Frozen: The After Story
by AnimeAddict1059
Summary: Being a mother was hard. Especially if your daughter inherited your powers, looks, and a bit of your personality and if your husband left you to rule his kingdom while still managing to send letters of his affection. But to Elsa, it was always amusing to just watch Anna and Kristoff try to raise their child 'cause she just doesn't know what to do with hers.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

When Elsa was young, she would often see herself, all grown up and crowned queen, married to a man who would become her king. Well, sort of. She later learned that any man who would marry her would be a Prince Consort, not her king. But that never dampened her spirits. Of course, she preferred one who was handsome, kind, all in all perfect. Just like her father.

Of course, growing up, things were never meant to run smooth. There was the whole incident of almost killing her sister, her parents dying, her becoming queen, running away from their home and her responsibilities, almost killing her sister _again_, and _finally_ being crowned queen of Arendelle all over again, she never thought her life would become as it was. Smooth, easy-going, happy.

Nevertheless, she found constant joys in her sister's company, along with Kristoff and Olaf. Well, she enjoyed their company on her days off. Mostly she was swamped with work and Anna knew all too well how cranky her sister could get if she was disturbed every minute for things that didn't involve running the kingdom. Elsa was sorry for her attitude but she just couldn't tolerate Anna barging in every minute, reporting Kristoff or Olaf's usual bout of craziness, or to speak to her about how purple is not the color for her and how it was weird that she looks great in green but she didn't really like the color as much as she liked yellow.

Elsa loved Anna but there were really times when she just wanted to encase the doorknob to her office in ice to keep her from entering.

Now at age 27, as Queen of Arendelle, Elsa felt content as she watched her sister, Anna, with Kristoff as they had a little quarrel about carrots. At twenty-four, Anna still remained the same. That also went for Kristoff. You'd think having a son would get them to mature a bit more.

She had canceled all her meetings and had someone push them back to clear space for today. Her mood had been foul since this morning and it involved her husband.

She dragged Anna, Kristoff, and their son to the palace gardens. They were confused but agreed anyway. Elsa wanted to take her daughter along with her but she remembered Gerda telling her that she was being put down for a nap. She told her to bring the princess to their picnic as soon as she wakes up though.

She originally wanted to relax in the cool late spring breeze but she did not expect today to be a tad bit warmer than usual. Well, summer was just around the corner after all.

But Elsa never really fared well in summer. In fact, she could never last five minutes in just a warm summer day outside which normal people would describe as "cool". But to the Queen, it meant dizziness and massive nosebleeds. This is what you'd get for having ice powers.

She had no other choice but to make their surroundings snow. Kristoff was grateful for the sudden temperature drop. He had been complaining for a while now about how the castle was getting too stuffy. Their son was just glad he could throw small, misshapen snowballs at his father.

Speaking of her nephew, Ivan was laughing as Olaf entertained him by pulling out his carrot nose and accidentally throwing it away, right in front of a very hungry Sven.

Elsa had to admit, Olaf, along with Anna, were the only ones who could make her lips twitch upward without them meaning to.

"I see a smile." Came a teasing voice from her right.

Elsa turned her head to see her sister coming towards her. She had left Kristoff and the man was currently sulking. It seems that he lost their argument.

"You act like you've never seen me smile before, Anna." She replied as she watched her sister plop down on the snow next to her.

"You've been in a foul mood since this morning." Anna stated. Her eyes were trained on her only son as he rammed the carrot nose on Olaf's head. "Something happen?"

Elsa had to tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her as memories from the morning flooded back inside her head. Anna noticed her sister tense up after she asked her the question.

"Elsa?"

Elsa shook her head. "Maybe later, Anna."

Anna just sighed. "You're doing it again…"

"Doing what?" Elsa asked as her eyebrows rose.

"You're keeping stuff from me again. You know I don't like it when you do that." Anna answered her as she caught some snowflakes with her hand. "Did something happen with… with Tristan?"

Anna looked at Elsa with those blue eyes of hers and stared at her as she waited for an answer. Elsa could only sigh as she placed a hand to her forehead and looked ahead with a distant look in her eyes.

She had been having trouble with her husband Tristan. Her old opinion of the perfect guy being the right king for her vanished when she was about eight. The day after she accidentally hit Anna. Actually, the whole idea of marriage never went through her mind ever again.

Well, it did come up when Anna was twenty and she practically begged her for her blessing on her and Kristoff's engagement. She wanted to object. She really wanted to. She couldn't bear to see her sister getting hurt. She thought it was just too early for her. She was afraid that the "Hans fiasco" would repeat again.

She wanted them to reconsider, maybe when Anna would turn twenty-one. When she would become of age.

But she found herself blurting out the word 'yes' without meaning to.

It was _very_ hard to say no to her. She had good reasons and she didn't see anything she could throw at Kristoff (not literally, of course). The both of them had been patient. Kristoff courted her for two years before finally proposing and even during those two years, he did everything he could to please both sisters.

After Anna was married, she immediately got it into her head that Elsa needed to get married soon too. She prepared ball after ball and practically pushed Elsa towards any guy she saw. Well, any eligible, respected nobleman who's not so bad looking.

And then, Elsa finally found a guy. His name was Tristan Claude von Duberick II. At first, she laughed at his ridiculous name. But he really showed her that there was more to him than meets the eye (and name). He was a prince from a small country to the south of England. He had a good name, a respectable nation, is a fair trade partner and had a good sense of humor.

She almost encased herself in ice when she found herself falling for him after months of meeting in political affairs and businesses. The man was charming in all ways possible without reminding her of Prince Hans.

And like what happened when Anna asked for her blessings in marriage, she found herself saying yes to Prince Tristan when he asked for her hand in marriage, though she had to take care of the frost that had gathered around her due to her nervousness. Tristan only laughed when he noticed her fidgeting with her gloves and the frost. He was one of the few people who saw the beauty of her powers yet loved her for herself.

She remembered marrying Tristan at the age of twenty-four, and if she recalled correctly, it was around the time her nephew had been born. A year after that, she had given Arendelle an heir. A princess named Thalia. She was born with many blessings and she was as healthy as could be. Yet, she inherited her mother's powers despite Elsa's frequent prayers that she wouldn't.

But the Queen and her husband loved her. In fact everyone loved her. They've even taken to calling her mini-Elsa.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. Elsa just didn't expect things to end so soon for her.

Yesterday, Tristan received a letter from his home. His older brother had died from an illness and the kingdom was in a state of panic. He was the only one left to assume the crown.

"Elsa, please. I need to do this. I have a responsibility-"

"You also have a responsibility here! Are you seriously thinking of leaving us? Me? Thalia?"

Tristan sighed and took her hand, begging her to look at him. "Elsa, I'm the king of Duberick now. I'm sorry... I... I need to go..."

Elsa slapped him right then and there. "You're just going to leave?" Her voice had become shaky from keeping herself from crying. "You're just going to leave your kingdom here, your wife… your own daughter." By that point her voice had been reduced to an icy whisper.

Tristan didn't respond. He, too, was hurt and angry at everything that was happening. He hadn't asked for this. He was forced to choose between two kingdoms. He didn't want to leave his family. He didn't want to hurt them. He didn't want to hurt Elsa so much. But he couldn't abandon his country either.

"Elsa, please, at least try to put yourself in my shoes…" he said patiently.

"I've worn those shoes before, Tristan. I've already faced a situation where I've had to choose between my family and my kingdom. I chose family and I always will." It was like what she always told Anna. She was a sister first, and a queen second.

"Elsa, please don't do this."

"What happens after this depends on your choice, Tristan. That's… That's all what I wanted to say…"

Anna found her crying in the library after that. Thankfully no one bothered them as she whispered words of comfort. She never asked about Elsa's problem. She was just there to comfort her.

Now, Anna had asked what she wanted to yesterday at the library.

"I was right, wasn't I? About Tristan?" Anna said, holding her sister's hand.

Anna deserved to know the truth. "He was called back to his kingdom to become their king… now that his brother passed."

Anna gasped. "And… did he?"

Elsa nodded. "He gave me his answer this morning…" Tears gathered in her eyes as she remembered their fight and her daughter's frightful blue eyes peeking from their bedroom door.

"Oh, Elsa… I'm so sorry…" Anna said as she moved to hug her elder sister.

Elsa didn't say anything and she just let her sister's warmth envelop her. She knew that Tristan loved her with all his heart and he didn't mean to hurt her and Thalia, but he had to do it.

It didn't matter if he knocked on their door a few years from now. She would kick him out of Arendelle. It may have been unintended, but he had hurt her nonetheless.

And nobody messes with the Snow Queen.

A voice from above them pulled the two sisters apart. Kristoff had arrived with Thalia in his arms.

"Mini-Elsa said she wanted to play in the snow with Ivan. Gerda brought her here." He said as he carefully set his niece in Elsa's arms.

Elsa quickly hid her sadness and smiled at her daughter. Thalia looked a bit tentative as she played with the skirt of her blue dress. Maybe she was still afraid of the fight earlier. She had never seen her parents raise their voices before. And everyone in the castle knew how the usually calm queen could get when she was forced to raise her voice.

"Thallie? Something wrong, sweetie?" Anna asked, noticing the usually energetic two-year old so quiet. She should have known. If there was something wrong with Elsa, then there was also something wrong with mini-Elsa.

Thalia shook her head and slowly slid from her mother's knees and walked in a slow pace towards a patch of snow two feet ahead. Her cousin, Ivan, saw her playing with the snow and he quickly ran towards her.

Elsa sighed as she watched her quietly playing daughter.

"You know, she's just like you when you were young." Anna said. She was also looking at the kids making misshapen snowballs. Well, Ivan was teaching Thalia how to gather snow into her hands and form a decent sphere. Elsa saw how frustrated her daughter became after a few minutes of trying to roll the snow in her hands and she had to stifle a laugh as Thalia gave up and waved her hand. A perfect snowball appeared in front of her and she squealed in delight, picking it up with her small toddler hands and successfully throwing it at Kristoff's face.

"Aw! Come on!" he exclaimed. The two ladies laughed at him and he grumbled under his breath as he wiped off the bits of snow from his face.

"Wow! Awesome!" Ivan said as he jumped up and down. "MY TUWN!"

Kristoff heard this. "What?! NO! NO! No more snowballs!"

"Hewe Ifam!" Thalia said as she conjured up another snowball.

"ELSA!"

"Yep. Just like her mother."

Elsa stopped the snowball headed for her brother-in-law with a lazy flick of her wrist. Kristoff was already on his way towards Sven's back.

After a few groans from the kids, Anna's earlier comment only registered in the queen's head. Elsa raised her eyebrows at the thought. "What do you mean?"

Anna stopped laughing at Kristoff for a while before answering her. "Well, aside from her being an exact copy of you… uh, you know, always quiet… er… reserved… it's like when you're bottling up something inside and you just keep quiet."

"Well, Anna, that's the whole point of bottling up. You keep quiet." Elsa said, smirking.

Anna blushed. "You know what I mean!"

Elsa chuckled. "Yes. Yes, I know. I just wanted to push your buttons."

Kristoff laughed but Anna glared at him. He cleared his throat and pointed to his previous spot in the snow. "I'll just… I'll just go, shall I?"

"Mama!"

Elsa and Anna both turned their heads at that and the both of them gasped at what they saw.

Thalia and Ivan had disassembled Olaf. Ivan was using Olaf's stick hand to whack the poor snowman and Thalia was rolling Olaf's head around.

"Kids!" Anna yelled at them as she ran towards the poor snowman. Elsa followed her immediately.

"No, no. It's alright. It's fine. They're jusghjvsvcfsg… kids and they dohohjgfsgdfgh…"

"Thalia stop rolling Olaf's head around!" Elsa told her as she pried the body part away from her daughter's chubby fingers.

Olaf immediately spewed out the snow that had found its way to his mouth.

"Oh. I'm very sorry, Olaf. Here, let me fix you." Elsa offered as she waved her hand. After Olaf was fixed, he laughed and said, "Let's do it again!"

The royal sisters looked at each other before they burst out laughing and they made their way back to their seats after getting the little ones to promise that they won't try to kill their friend again.

As Elsa watched her daughter, she didn't see herself in that small, platinum blond, blue-eyed girl. Instead, she saw her husband, Tristan. She was both hers and his. Tristan had every right to her as she did. But he didn't use it to take Thalia from her this morning as he packed up.

Elsa rubbed a spot on her forehead as another problem rose up. Thalia didn't know that her father was already on his way to Duberick.

* * *

**A/N:** It's about time I posted a fic on Frozen. Tell me what you think. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The idea of sleeping alone in her bed unnerved Elsa. She had let herself get used to sleeping beside Tristan, feeling his big strong arms hold her protectively in a warm embrace.

She only just realized how quiet the room was when she lay awake, looking up at the other side of the large bed. There was room for at least three people on this bed and it felt strangely wide when it was only her who occupied it.

Even if this was just the first night, she already missed Tristan's quiet snores and occasional mumbling while he slept. She missed how the mattress often squeaked and shifted as either of them tossed and turned. She missed saying goodnight to him before going to bed and she missed how he would kiss her goodnight in return.

The fact that the pillow beside her still smelled like Tristan only made it worse and she was already sitting up before she could stop herself.

Elsa tried to ward off the oncoming tears as she slid off of the covers and off the bed. She opened the door and nearly sprinted towards the direction of the only one who could ease her emotions right now.

She stopped in front of a large white door decorated with paintings of blue snowflakes and arrow-like banners. Out of habit, she glanced farther down the hallway where she could make out Anna's room. Even now, she still felt guilty for shutting her out. After their parents separated them, whenever she went to her room, she would always glance at that door where she knew Anna was just beyond it.

Elsa shook her head to clear it from those thoughts and, very slowly and carefully, opened the door, taking care not to wake its occupant. She closed it with the same amount of caution and once she did, she quickly whipped her head to check on the sleeping toddler on the bed.

Good. She was still snoring.

Elsa maneuvered her way around the floor littered with dolls and blocks and crayons. Once she reached the bed, she carefully set herself down on it. The sudden shift of the mattress made the sleeping toddler mumble something but she promptly went back to snoring after that.

Elsa smiled at her daughter as she reached out to brush her platinum blond hair out of her face. After she did, she took in Thalia's features. She could never grow tired of seeing her face. Her fingers slowly trailed down her pale cheeks and towards her chin. Even until now, she still felt amazed at how her normally cool hands didn't make her shiver. Then, she had to remind herself that were in the same situation. She passed on her gift to her daughter and she still didn't know how to feel about that.

At first she was horrified at the prospect of having her daughter grow up in isolation like her. She knew she wouldn't do that since their powers aren't secret anymore. But Thalia was still growing and so were her powers. Even if she let her be free, what if she accidentally freezes something? Or someone.

But then Tristan jokingly offered that she would always be around to unfreeze things if that were to happen. She slapped his arm after he said that, although, he was right.

On the other hand, she was relieved that she wouldn't cause any kind of discomfort to her daughter. In fact, she was grateful that they would have something that connected them, the way Kristoff and Ivan do with Ice Harvesting. She was awkward around children. She was sort of eased into it when Ivan was born. She knew how to handle them but she wasn't comfortable with the comforting and touching part. Anna still teased her about the incident where she brushed her hand lightly on Ivan's arm when he was a year old and he shivered a bit. That sent Elsa on edge and she freaked out.

At least Anna's wish came true. Elsa would have someone to accompany her in cold winter days clad in only a shoulder-less dress and dance around in the snow like weirdos.

Still, she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have given life to someone as irreplaceable and precious as Thalia.

She still remembered the day she was born and she particularly recalled Kristoff making a comment about how creepy she looked with a baby that looked so much like her, hence the nickname "Mini-Elsa".

Thalia had mumbled something and she withdrew her hand just in time for her daughter to stretch her arms out and open her blue eyes sleepily.

"Ma…ma…?"

Elsa smiled at her and ran a gentle hand through her hair. "Hello, snowflake… I'm sorry I woke you…"

Thalia yawned and shook her head. "Is… okay…"

Elsa moved and carefully shifted Thalia to one side of the bed as she occupied the other. "Is it okay if Mama sleeps with you tonight?"

Thalia sleepily nodded her head and pulled her mother's arms into a tight grip. Elsa pulled her closer in her arms and she kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight Thalia…" Elsa whispered and closed her eyes to doze off to sleep with Thalia encased in a protective embrace. She swore then and there that she would never let her daughter feel alone. It didn't matter if she felt lonely as long as her daughter was warm and happy in her arms.

* * *

Growing up without her father never bothered Thalia all that much. She had a father figure. Kristoff. Well… sort of. He was more like a big brother. A REALLY big brother.

He would often comfort her and sometimes become overprotective. During parties, he stuck to her like glue, glaring at any boys he saw. Elsa tried to tell him that they were too young to understand dating and love but Kristoff only brushed her off.

"You never know, Elsa… You never know…" he said as he glared at a young prince that passed them by. "Keep walking, buster."

Elsa groaned and shook her head. Why did she let Anna marry an idiot?

Nevertheless, Thalia was grateful for it. She knew about her mother and father's predicament. She was told that her father had to be called back to his kingdom to rule since he was the only living heir.

It never really bothered her much since he sent her letters and she learned that her father was skilled in art, like her. Whenever she showed her mother something she drew or painted she would be overjoyed and would praise her. But whenever she showed her her father's artwork, she would turn away and refuse to look at it.

That was weird.

Her lessons were done for today and she was currently scouring the castle for her cousin, Ivan. Instead, she found her aunt walking around the palace gardens. If there was anyone who knew Ivan's whereabouts, it was his mother. Thalia quickly made her way towards Anna.

"Aunt Anna!"

Anna turned around at the sound of her name being called. She was surprised to see her niece running towards her.

"Thalia." She said as she caught the girl in her arms before she tripped over her dress. "What's going on? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Thalia smiled. "Sorry. I wanted to ask you where Ivan is."

"Ivan? He's gone out with his father. I don't think they'll be back until this evening. You know, quality time. It's a guy thing." Anna answered her.

The grin on Thalia's face disappeared after hearing that. She was looking forward to spending time with her cousin. He even told her that he'd bring his sled and they would race in the Great Hall.

Anna noticed her niece's smile disappear from her face. "Oh… did… were you… ? Did you plan on something for today?"

Thalia nodded sadly. "Yeah…"

"Hmm… well, you know Kristoff. No wonder Ivan was a bit reluctant to go with him earlier." Anna said, rubbing her chin in thought. "Maybe I should talk to Kristoff about that. He really needs to learn the importance of planning ahead."

"No. No, it's okay, aunt Anna. I'll just… I'll just go upstairs." She smiled at Anna and started to walk away. Or was about to. Anna pulled her back in an instant.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" she asked with a large grin on her face.

"What?" Thalia said, confused.

"Well, if the boys are having their day out, why don't we have ours? Girls only? Hmmm?" Anna said, tempting Thalia.

Thalia's face immediately lit up. "Really?!"

Anna nodded. "Of course! Let's go and get Elsa!"

* * *

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"No? Why no?"

Elsa groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm a bit busy right now, Anna, if the piles of paperwork aren't an indication."

"But… come on, Elsa! This might be our only chance! Plus, Thalia's bored. You're bored, right, sweetie?" Anna said, turning to her niece for back up.

Thalia nodded and put on the most adorable kicked puppy look she could muster. Anna inwardly grinned at how she was in sync with her niece.

Elsa quickly turned her attention on her paperwork and tried to block out her sister's and her daughter's pleas. She didn't think it possible that her daughter looked so much like her yet acted a lot like Anna. She blamed herself for letting Thalia get too attached to her aunt. But then, how was she supposed to predict that her daughter would follow her aunt's actions?

"Elsa, please?"

"Mama, please?"

"Please, Elsa… puh-lease?"

"Please, Mama… please?"

"Please?"

"Please?"

They were seriously starting to get annoying. Elsa rubbed the sides of her head, feeling a headache coming on. Should she continue to ignore them or just give in? Either way, she's going to get a headache.

"Fine… I'll go." She muttered.

"YES!" Anna and Thalia exclaimed at the same time.

"IF!" Two heads turned to Elsa's direction. "Anna will help me with my meetings. And yes, you _will_ dance."

Anna didn't seem at all fazed at her sister's condition. "Done deal."

Elsa blinked back her surprise. "That's all? No… no complaints?"

Anna smirked. "If that's the only price I have to pay for the queen's company, then sure."

"Hm… I need to change tactics then." Elsa said, getting up from her desk and walking towards Anna and Thalia.

"So… where are we headed?" she asked as she straightened out her dress.

The reply she got from the pair were devious chuckles and evil grins. Was it too late to reconsider her choice?

* * *

"What on earth are the both of you made of?" Anna groaned as she planted herself on the couch in Elsa's study. Her dress still had bits of snow on it and she was wet from head to toe but she didn't care. All she wanted was to get near to the fire and rub at the bruises she acquired from the earlier snowball fight.

"Having Thalia at your side doesn't really make much of a difference, Anna." Elsa said as she sat on the chair opposite to the couch her sister was sprawled on. As soon as Elsa was settled, her daughter immediately climbed up to sit on her legs.

"I figured as much…" Anna mumbled from the couch.

"Didn't seem like it when you struck me with that snowball earlier. You of all people should know that it's suicide to challenge me to a snowball fight." Elsa said as she stroked Thalia's soaked hair.

"Yeah, would've been better if you remind me before you decide to bury me alive with snow." Anna said as she picked at a particularly nasty bruise.

"Like that would stop you from hitting me with a snowball." Elsa near snorted. Thalia laughed and let her head rest on her mother's chest. Today was a nice way to exercise the magic build up from the past few weeks. Though, the forest clearing they had chosen as an arena was not easily spared.

"Well… lesson learned." Anna replied.

"I thought we were going to go into town and do some window-shopping for our Girl's day out. I guess I was wrong." Elsa told her as she adjusted Thalia's head. She was starting to doze off.

"No thanks. I want excitement, not dresses. Kristoff and Ivan are having their own set of adventures and I'm just here, sitting and waiting for them to come back."

"Then it's good that I had Thalia, wouldn't you say?" Elsa said, smiling at her sister.

"Yep. She's our saving grace."

Those words could never hold more meaning to it than it did to Elsa. Thalia really was her saving grace.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so this chapter's shorter than the previous one but enjoy anyways. Please review and tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Whenever Elsa saw Anna, Kristoff, and Ivan, she felt a bit jealous. They were whole, complete, and happy… They were the ideal family. And what of hers? Her husband was not here anymore. He hadn't been for ten years. He certainly made a point that he had no intention of ever coming back to his family. He did so with a neatly written letter that may or may not have been torn to shreds with hundreds of dangerously sharp ice spears.

They were having their dinner. As usual, Kristoff and Anna were having one of their small banters while the children talked about each other's adventures for the day. Looking at them, Elsa realized that she was the only one who was silent. She had no one to talk to.

Clearing her throat, Elsa started her routine questions to Thalia. Anna could only smile empathetically at her niece. She had experienced this from Elsa years ago when it was only the two of them at the castle, after their parents died and before she was crowned Queen.

"So… Thalia, how were your studies?" Elsa said with what Anna called, her 'Queen' voice.

Thalia stopped stuffing peas into her mouth at her mother's question and gulped before answering, "…Fine?"

Elsa sighed. "Something went wrong."

Thalia scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Maybe…"

Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose . "Don't scratch behind your head, Thalia. _Please_, keep perfect posture…"

Thalia groaned before straightening up.

"I swear, you're just like Anna…"

"Hey!"

Elsa ignored her sister. "I will not have you slouching and messing things up. You are Arendelle's next-"

"Arendelle's next queen. I know." Thalia finished for her. She can't believe that they're having this conversation _again_!

Elsa looked her daughter in the eye. "Thalia, you are being trained to become the next queen. Should anything happen to me before you come of age-"

"Aunt Anna will take over until I turn twenty-one. Yeesh! I know." Thalia cut across her again.

"Yes. She will watch over Arendelle. But this is not about her. This is about you. You _need_ these lessons. And- no, don't cut across me again!"

Thalia, who was about to open her mouth, huffed and crossed her arms across her chest.

"That's another thing, Thalia. Where did you learn that? Speaking without permission and cutting across people's sentences. I don't know why you- " Elsa stopped and breathed in for a moment to calm herself before continuing. "Thalia, you have an image to uphold and-"

"So what?" Thalia interrupted. "People do it all the time! I'm not some machine that you can just control, Mama. I have a life too. Yeah, that's right. I'm a person."

"Thalia, you have all the free time you need. Clearly, I need to fill it with lessons on manners." Elsa said, her voicing turning stern.

"What? _WHAT_?!" Thalia asked in disbelief. "Lessons? That's practically what I do every minute of every day! And you're considering on adding more?"

"With the way your acting right now, it seems replacing your free time won't be enough." Elsa replied coolly. "You don't have a right to complain, Thalia. The servants never complain even if they're climbing up the roofs to fix leaks or climbing mountains to bring us ice. What about you? Whining over extra hours of sitting through a lecture? You are what our people will look to for strength and encouragement. You are a symbol and if you laze around, then what will the people think? Huh? What? What do you think they'll do if-"

"Elsa!"

Elsa stopped her lecture and turned her head angrily towards Anna. "What?!"

Anna recoiled slightly at her sister's icy glare. Even if she was technically an adult now, she still felt like a child when she talked to her.

"I… I think you two should continue this conversation after dinner… It's starting to snow…" she said as she pointed up. Snowflakes were raining down on them but it didn't seem to bother her son and her husband at all.

Elsa looked up too and caught a snowflake with her hand. "Oh… right. I'm sorry. I'll fix this."

She closed her eyes and concentrated. The flurry of snowflakes above them immediately disappeared. Elsa sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "You're right, Anna. Thalia, we'll finish this after dinner. I'll be in your room and _don't_ even think of avoiding this, young lady. Do you understand?"

Thalia turned away and grumbled under her breath.

"Thalia, do you understand?" Elsa pressed.

Frost began to creep on the table as Thalia forced an answer through gritted teeth. "Yes, I understand."

Anna noticed her son eyeing the frost warily as it slowly crept towards his plate. Thalia must have noticed too because she got up a second later, rubbing her gloved hands frightfully.

"I'm done with dinner. Excuse me." She said, not quite meeting Elsa's eyes. Before Elsa could say anything, Thalia was out of the door.

Elsa leaned back in her chair and started doing her breathing exercises to stop herself from following her daughter and causing a scene in front of the servants. Breathe in. Breath out. What was with Thalia lately? It wasn't like her to act up or to screw up in her lessons.

"Um… Elsa? The… uh… the table." Said a voice that belonged to Anna.

Elsa opened her eyes, not realizing that she had closed them in the first place, and she was surprised at what she saw. She had accidentally frozen the entire table.

Kristoff, who was still eating his stew, moaned as the spoon he was holding became stuck to the now frozen dish.

"I… I'm sorry." Elsa stammered out.

Anna placed a hand over her sister's trembling ones. "It's fine, Elsa. We've eaten anyway. Right, Ivan?"

Ivan nodded and smiled politely at his aunt. It faded, however, when they heard a few sad sobs in Kristoff's direction. All eyes became trained on him.

"… what a waste of good stew… why? I wasn't done with those delicious… crunchy… carrots… why?" Kristoff moaned. He had pulled the spoon by force sometime earlier and was now whacking it weakly against the stew encased in ice.

Anna face palmed and kicked her husband's foot hard under the table. Kristoff yelped in pain and he glared at his wife.

"What?!"

"_Everything's __**fine**__. Right, Kristoff?_" Anna said, inclining her head towards Elsa. '_Just nod and say yes! Say yes, Kristoff!_' she added inside her head.

"What?" Kristoff said softly this time. He was a bit confused and his foot still stung.

Anna kicked him again.

"OW! Yes! Yes! Everything's fine! Happy?"

Anna turned back to her sister. "See? We're fine."

Elsa smiled at her little sister and squeezed her hand. She always went to great lengths just to get her to smile or to make her feel okay. "Thank you, Anna. I'll just go ahead and defrost the table. Please tell the servants to clean up and get an ice patch for Kristoff's foot. I still have to talk to Thalia."

"Okay. Try not to get into a fight with her. It's already evening." Anna said.

"As much as I try to avoid it, I have a feeling we'll be having one soon." Elsa told her sister as she concentrated. The ice slowly melted off the table.

"I know… teenagers, right?" Kristoff said, wiping his hands on a napkin.

The sisters looked at him in disbelief.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Kristoff, Thalia's twelve. She's not a teenager yet." Elsa said.

"What? Really? Then who…?"

Ivan cleared his throat. "Right here, dad. _I'm_ the teenager. Thirteen, remember?"

Kristoff made an 'o' shape with his mouth and mumbled an apology to Elsa. Elsa just shook her head and said goodnight to the family of three. She still had a headstrong daughter to take care of.

* * *

"What is her problem?! Why would she do that?! Why would she scold me over dinner? Couldn't she have waited until we were out of there?! That was totally uncalled for!" Thalia said as she paced around her room. She had been doing this for a few minutes now as she waited for her _oh-so-perfect_ mother to grace her with her presence.

She heard the door open behind her and she groaned as she planted herself headfirst on her bed.

"Thalia."

There it was. That disappointed tone again.

"Thalia, what are you doing?" Elsa's voice rang out in the empty room, noting, in the back of her mind that this had been her previous room, the one she practically grew up in. The one that had confined her for thirteen years in her self-exile.

Thalia mumbled something in her blankets and went quiet again. Elsa wanted to go over there and talk things over with her slowly and softly, but excusing herself from dinner with no proper _excuse_ was not to be overlooked. She had breached a rule in proper mannerisms and she was not about to let it go unpunished. Maybe her punishment would be doubled if the thing she did in her lessons was way worse.

"Thalia, stand up." It was not a request. She commanded her to stand up and face her like a proper princess.

Thalia gave it a few more seconds before huffing and pushing herself up to meet her mother's cold gaze. She recoiled slightly at first but she countered with a gaze as even as hers.

"Thalia, your attitude earlier-" Elsa began but Thalia cut her off.

"Just _what_ is with you and proper attitude?!"

Elsa was taken aback by her daughter's interruption but she quickly recovered and answered her. "Young lady, you are a member of the royal family and therefore, you are expected to present yourself with grace, poise, and the highest amount of courtesy as possible. You are not just for show. You are also expected to meet with other foreign dignitaries and I will not allow such behavior to-"

"And why should I? Proper mannerisms never stopped Aunt Anna and Uncle Kristoff before! In fact, Uncle Kristoff still picks his nose at parties!"

"I don't care what Kris - wait. What?" Elsa asked. She did not need that information. She just shook her head and continued. "Listen, your aunt has already been through all of this and she can be her polite and proper self in just an instant. You, on the other hand, are expected to follow the proper rules, apply them correctly, and do not question them. You are my heir, Thalia. One day, you're going to be Arendelle's queen."

Thalia couldn't stop the blow from those words. This was her inevitable fate. To be the ruler of Arendelle. Well, there was also the choice of ruling Duberick, should her father ask her to… but she wasn't about to point that out to her mother right now.

"Please, Thalia." Elsa's voice had become significantly softer. "You can't keep acting like this. You're going to be thirteen years of age in a number of months. As much as I hate it, you're not a little girl anymore. You'll have to learn."

She moved towards her daughter's bed and sat down next her, taking hold of her hand.

Thalia whisked her hand away though. "All I ever do is learn. Everyday. Lessons piling up my schedule… I hate it."

Elsa sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You feel that right now, but all this is just to prepare you for your future, Thalia. You're going to be grateful for all the information and tutoring you're receiving right now when the time comes for you to use it in the future. Trust me."

Thalia kept quiet. She was still wondering how learning about the undergarments of a believed-to-be fictional society would give her any benefits in the future. Still, she just sighed and let her win. Again.

"Do I still have to tell you about what went wrong in my studies?"

Elsa nodded. "I believe that would be best."

Thalia groaned and kept her eyes fixed on her skirt as she told her mother what happened. "I… uh… I sort of… told my etiquette instructor to shut up and take his unusually shiny head out of the library and out of the castle because I just couldn't stand his annoying squeaky voice. Plus, Britta had scolded me very harshly before the lesson started and I was in a bad mood. I mean, what was I supposed to do? The guy kept telling me to sit straight and not move an inch, even if it was just for a millisecond! I swear, I never saw him so angry when I gave up and just shouted at him. He used some… words I only ever hear uncle Kristoff use… and some I don't know… Do you know what those words might have meant, Mama? There's this one that starts with an 'f'… I forgot what it was but it-"

"Okay. That's enough information." Elsa said, quickly shutting off the rest of Thalia's report. She would need to have a word with both the instructor and Kristoff. She wasn't even sure if she would let them leave alive. She thought everyone considered it a dangerous crime to swear in front of the princess. Apparently not.

She'll have to enforce it tomorrow.

"Mama?" Thalia asked after a moment of silence between them. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, snowflake. You are in _big_ trouble. But it's getting late. We'll discuss this tomorrow." Elsa replied as she slowly undid her daughter's braid. It was similar to the one she wore when she was a little girl.

"Does freezing the table a bit make the list of crimes I've already done?" Thalia was looking at her gloved hand and for a moment, there was fear etched in her features.

Elsa saw it in the mirror and her grip on her daughter's shoulder tightened. Was that really how frightened she looked as she saw how her powers were growing? Was that really what her face looked like? She somehow understood the pain in her mother's face when her younger self panicked because of the ice powers. But to her, it felt a hundred times worse. After all, she was the reason her daughter was so afraid. She was the one who gave her those powers in the first place.

She ran a gentle hand through her daughter's platinum blond hair, identical to her own. "Thalia… don't worry about the table. I… To tell you the truth, I… froze the entire dining table after you excused yourself."

Thalia immediately whipped around to face her. A look of disbelief was on her face. "You did what?!"

Elsa raised one eyebrow at her. "Do you really want me to repeat that?"

"Remind me not to get on your nerves too much…" Thalia said, turning around again to let her mother finish undoing her braid.

"I would if you actually listened." Elsa said as she pulled on a stubborn knot, making her daughter wince.

She placed a quick kiss on the top of her daughter's head after she was done. "Goodnight, snowflake. I'm sorry for the lecture."

"It's alright, Mama. You win, anyways…" Thalia said as she crept into her blankets.

"Don't I always?" Elsa grinned as she turned off the lights.

"Goodnight, Mama."

Elsa smiled at her daughter and closed the door softly behind her. Thalia was about to drift off to sleep when a knock at her door had her open her eyes fully. She heard her door creak open slightly. A mop of blond hair and blue-green eyes poked its way through the small opening.

"Thal?"

Oh. Ivan.

The princess got up to let her visitor know that she was still awake. She heard her cousin breath a sigh of relief as he made his way towards the bed.

"So… did Aunt Elsa go nuts?" he asked as he sat down.

Thalia scrunched up her face as she heard Ivan's deepening voice. She still wasn't used to that. It wasn't as deep as his father's yet but it was still a drastic change from the squeaky voice she had gotten used to over the years.

"Nah, she was surprisingly calm. We still have to settle on a punishment." She answered.

"She was? I thought she was going to murder you what with the way she froze the entire dining table after you left." Ivan said.

"She really did that?" she asked in disbelief.

"Why? You don't think she could do it?" Ivan asked her, disbelief also prominent in his deepening voice.

Thalia shook her head.

"What?!" Ivan exploded right then and there. "She made a frickin' _ice castle_ when she was twenty-one! How could you be just impressed by frozen furniture?"

"_She made an ice castle?!_"

"Seriously? You didn't know?!"

Thalia shook her head. Her mother never told her much about her past. Whenever they talked about their powers, it was always during their private lessons. Seriously? An ICE CASTLE?!

"Boy, you should've seen it! It was so beautiful!" Ivan told her. He began to describe the queen's creation in great detail to Thalia. She had been eager to listen at first, but her face eventually fell. Ivan noticed this.

"What's wrong now?"

"Nothing… it's just that… I never even knew what my mother could do… I mean, she isn't exactly showy with her powers but… why would she not tell me? I mean, I'm her daughter for Pete's sake!"

"Who's Pete?"

"Ivan, focus!"

"Yeah, but who's Pete?"

"It's an expression, okay?"

"Really?" Ivan said. "Huh… never knew." As polite and as proper as Ivan was, he was still Kristoff's son in and out. "Listen, if you want to see the ice castle, you could just come with me and dad up to the mountains."

"Yeah… good luck getting permission from my mother." Thalia told him as she fell back on her bed.

"Can't you just come with us? Dad's with us, anyway." Ivan asked her.

"Don't you get it, Ivan? I'm not allowed out of this castle. I'll never be able to go out. You're the guy who gets to go wherever he wants, when he wants and I'm the one who gets locked away and fed with knowledge I don't even want."

Ivan looked at his cousin sadly. "Thalia, you're not going to be queen until your mother steps down. You still own the time you have right now."

"Yeah… if you could clear my study schedule for a day, I might go with you. But there is no way that is ever happening…"

Silence fills the room and Ivan adjusted his position on the bed.

"Do you know what I always wish for? Ever since I could remember, I wished for my dad to come back. But now… I only want to be free from these duties. From trying to control my powers. I just want to be free. Even it's only just for one day. And for the longest time… I was jealous of you…"

Ivan's eyes widened. "What? You were… you were jealous of me?"

"Who wouldn't? You've got a carefree life. Your dad's always there. So is your mom. You get to go wherever you want, have any adventure you could ever wish for… You're free."

Ivan was silent as he tried to process what Thalia had just said. "Thal, why would you be jealous of me? I'm actually jealous of you, to tell you honestly."

Thalia's head whipped up. "What?"

"It's true. I mean… you stay here in the palace, reading any book you could get your hands on, you understand stuff that's beyond a normal twelve-year old… You have _ice powers_… Who wouldn't want that?"

"Certainly not me." Thalia answered him.

"I don't like my life too much either. It gets pretty tiring when dad wakes me up at dawn just to take me to the mountain. Well… it's either that or feeding Sven."

"Wouldn't it be great if we could just switch for a day?" Thalia said.

"It would… but we can't." Ivan sighed.

"Yeah…"

And he was right. She was off to become the next ruler of Arendelle and he was either going to go to a foreign University… or with how things are going, he was going to become the next Royal Ice Master and Deliverer after his father.

* * *

**A/N:** So, I did a timeskip. Five years after the last chapter. I hope you guys don't mind but I was thinking of speeding it up a little so the plot could progress. Well... again, tell me what you guys think! Oh, but don't worry. Elsa and Thalia will have some moments, it's kinda what I was going for when I started this fic anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Elsa and her daughter's relationship had always been strained. Ever since Thalia asked her that simple question when she was five, she had had to explain that her father was not going to be with them. Not now. Not ever.

Everything was supposed to be fine before a letter from Tristan arrived on the day of Thalia's fifth birthday. She was too shocked to hide it from her daughter's view and the recently turned five-year old took it from her hands and saw the card inside.

It was a simple card, one with a sketch of Tristan holding a five-year old Thalia. Elsa recognized the sketch immediately. She remembered Tristan settled somewhere in the castle scratching madly away at his sketchbook. She had to admit, the man was talented. Even without seeing his daughter for nearly three years, he still drew Thalia as though she had modeled for him. It was an identical copy of her daughter.

"Me!" Thalia pointed out as she showed the card to her mother.

Elsa tried to take the letter away from her daughter but Thalia threw a tantrum and she wouldn't shut up until the sketch was given back to her.

She asked who the man was and Elsa had to explain to her about Tristan and his absence. Thalia always told her that her father would come back and Elsa spent all her time trying to get her daughter to drop that thought. She would only hurt herself.

It wasn't easy though. Tristan kept sending her letters with sketches on every single on of them. It only increased in number when Thalia learned how to read and write and she was able to reply.

Elsa disapproved of it at first but there was nothing she could do. Thalia deserved to get to know her father. She did make sure to check each letter for any signs of brainwashing on Tristan's part. Something that would make Thalia hate her and get her to stay with him on Duberick.

She stopped when Thalia was eleven. She found her pouring over one of Tristan's letters without her permission and she made her promise not to touch the letters meant for her.

She had no choice but to relent but that didn't mean that she wouldn't ask her about its contents. But she just absolutely refused to look at the sketches.

* * *

(Present time)

Thalia had awoken to her governess' loud knocks to her bedroom door. She had tried to ignore it and she was quite successful with the first few minutes until the sun decided to add to her misery. She swore it hit her eyes squarely as though it had been targeted.

"Princess Thalia! You really must get up! Your mother has been waiting for you to join her for breakfast at the dining table." Britta informed her through the closed door.

Thalia groaned. "I don't wanna hear about my punishment for yesterday…"

"Your highness, I really think you should get up and meet with your mother."

"And I really think you should leave me alone." Thalia countered, burying herself deeper under her covers.

"But, your Highness, the queen told me that a letter arrived for you. She says it's from the King of Duberick."

The princess' eyes flew open in an instant. "PAPA?!" Thalia immediately stood up upon hearing those words. "He sent me a letter?!"

"Er… I believe so, your highness. Her majesty had set it – "

Before Britta could even finish her sentence, a large blue mass had opened the door with a great amount of force and it sped down the hallway towards the dining hall. Britta was wide-eyed while clutching her chest as she stared at the direction the princess had dashed off to. Thalia had really surprised her.

* * *

Thalia opened the door to the dining hall so quickly and very forcibly that the occupants jumped in surprise. Heads swiveled towards her direction but the princess didn't care. She resumed running towards her chair beside her mother.

Elsa was staring at her in surprise. Thalia was covered in sweat, still in her nightgown, and was panting as though she had just ran down the North Mountain. "Thalia, what on earth…?

Thalia put up a finger to tell her mother to give her a minute to recover first. She took deep gulps of air and took hold of her chair for support.

"Where… where's the… where's the letter?" she panted as she dropped on her chair.

Elsa's eyebrows rose. "Letter?"

"Yeah. From… from Papa…" Thalia was trying to even her breathing as she desperately fanned herself with her hands. Lesson learned: Do not run from your bedroom towards the dining hall in record-breaking speed.

"Oh… that." Elsa sighed as she shifted through the thick stack of letters at her side. Being Queen, she often got a LOT of mail. It was just pure luck that she had seen her… husband's letter.

"Yes… here it is." She said as she spotted the white envelope addressed to her daughter. With the way she was holding it, it looked like a bomb was inside of it just waiting to blow.

Thalia immediately grabbed it with greedy hands and tore through the lid of the envelope. Elsa rolled her eyes and resumed reading the letter from the Queen of Corona. She remembered her. She was around Anna's age. Her name was Rapunzel Fitzherbert. The surname struck her as odd but she was told that it came from her husband, Eugene Fitzherbert.

Corona was an excellent trade partner and a close ally to Arendelle. Because of that, Arendelle and Corona's rulers often visited each other and this time, it was Prince Consort Eugene's and Queen Rapunzel's turn to visit Arendelle. They said that they were going to arrive by the end of the week.

The last exchange between the two kingdoms had been with the previous king and queen. This was actually the first time the two new rulers would meet each other face to face. They had exchanged letters but never met each other in person.

Elsa wanted to, of course, but she still feared the sea. After her parents died, she never dared set foot on a sea vessel. When other countries invited her over, she would have to excuse herself politely or get them to come to Arendelle instead.

She heard her daughter gasp dramatically beside her and her eyes shifted over to Thalia as she pulled out a piece of paper from inside the envelope.

"Look, Mama! Another sketch from Papa!" she squealed excitedly as her eyes raked over the drawing. "It's a sketch of me! And… there's him behind me… and… there you are! You're beside him!"

A vein popped up on Elsa's head upon hearing that. It was gestures like this from Tristan that really irritated her. He made it clear that he was not coming back to Arendelle, yet he still doesn't pass up the chance to send sketches of them together as a family.

She had a thick pile of letters from Tristan waiting for her slim fingers to open and it was sitting somewhere inside her office, collecting dust. She was sure that those letters contained sketches too and she had an idea on what its subject was.

Her.

She shivered involuntarily at the thought and she quickly shook her head to clear it. Tristan was such a hopeless romantic. If he wanted her to soften up, he should change tactics. Though, it won't be easy. She just hated his guts for leaving them.

But for her daughter's sake, she forced a smile on her lips. "That's great, Thalia."

Thalia nodded and checked the envelope again. This time, she pulled out the letter from her father.

"Let's see what it says…"

_Dearest Thalia,_

_How are you? I'm fine here in Duberick. Well, not really. My adviser's been bugging me. I really wish you could come here. I miss you._

_Is your mother well? Is she still mad at me?_

"Mama, Papa wants to know if you're still mad at him." Thalia informed her mother, not tearing her eyes away from the letter.

Elsa only huffed and kept her steely blue eyes on the letter on her hand, though some frost had gathered on her fingertips.

_She's still mad… right? Oh well… I'll just send her another letter next week._

_Anyway, I wanted to ask you about something. Do you remember the sketchbook I sent you the month before? Have you filled it with your drawings yet? If you have, even if it's just one page, can you do your old man a favor and send it over to me? I'd really want to see it._

_As for your usual question, No, I don't think I'll be able to attend the Summer Ball there in Arendelle. And, No, I don't know if I can leave Duberick. The kingdom still needs me. You understand that, right? I'm sorry, Thalia. But I promise, I'll always write to you so you won't feel too lonely._

_Keep smiling for me, okay? And give your mama a kiss for me. Don't let another guy get close to her. Your Uncle Kristoff and Ivan are fine. But, seriously, keep her away from men. And you too. Stay away from boys._

_Lots of love,_

_Papa_

Thalia rolled her eyes and smiled at that last bit but it soon vanished along with her earlier excitement. Her father was not coming to Arendelle this year. She _did_ understand his reasons but she just wasn't satisfied with just sketches of her father. She wanted to meet him in person. To really touch him and hug him…

"Thalia?"

Her mother's voice had broken Thalia out of her thoughts and she saw the queen's worried eyes looking at her.

"What?" she asked a bit defensively.

Elsa reached over and stroked her cheek sadly. "He said he wasn't coming, didn't he?"

Thalia nodded and she slumped in her seat. The Summer Ball was her father's final chance to come to Arendelle. All throughout Autumn to mid-Spring, the weather was too cold for the villagers. Her mother – well, everyone in the castle – was busy during this time. They spent this time by catching up on their private lessons and sometimes, her mother would go with Kristoff up the North Mountains.

But most of the time, Elsa was busy making sure that the kingdom had food that would last throughout the cold winter.

And she was going to be alone again.

"Your Majesty, the duke of Vingriv is here. He is waiting for you in the throne room." Kai's voice suddenly said.

Elsa hesitated a bit as she looked at her daughter, before answering, "Yes, tell him I'll be arriving shortly."

Kai bowed. "Very well, your Majesty."

Elsa turned her attention back to Thalia. She squeezed the princess' hand gently. "I'll have to tell your tutors that your schedule will be delayed today. You'll need some time alone, right?" she whispered to her.

Thalia looked at her mother and gratitude swam in her eyes. "Thank you…"

Elsa smiled and kissed the top of Thalia's head before following Kai out of the dining hall.

* * *

Thalia sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time this morning. Her father's letter left her moody. She wasn't sure if she should write a reply or get to sending her already full sketchbook to Tristan. She decided that she should just go back to sleep.

Just as she was about to climb into bed, her door opened and Ivan came in. Thalia raised an eyebrow at her cousin's getup. He was wearing a tightly knitted sweater and winter pants and boots. A thick winter jacket lined with fur was draped over his shoulder and a pair of goggles sat on his head.

"Er… Tell me, are you dressed like that on purpose… or are you just trying to give yourself a heat stroke?" Thalia asked as he came closer.

"On purpose." He replied simply as he set his jacket on her bed.

"And why are you wearing winter clothes in summer?" Thalia asked, crossing her arms out in front of her.

"Because _I'm_ going to take you up on the mountains." Ivan explained.

"_You_? As in… _you_? Wait. _You're_ going to take me up on the mountains… with no adult supervising us?"

Ivan nodded.

"You do realize that this might get us killed." Thalia told him.

Ivan nodded again.

Thalia was beyond confused. "Why?"

"I figured you wanted some cheering up. Besides, your lessons have been cleared this morning. Now that we have the chance, might as well grab it, right?"

Thalia was quiet for a while. She was still weighing out her options inside her head. Mope and then go to lessons with a scowl or go with Ivan and have fun (and also get killed when she gets back). She decided to go and have fun.

She moved towards her dresser and pulled out one of her simplest dresses. "We're sneaking out right?" she asked as she made a choice between the green and purple one and the blue one.

"Yep." Ivan said, gathering his things and going out of the door. "I'll be at the stables with Sven II."

"Okay."

* * *

"And you're sure this is safe?"

"Pfft… I've done this before. Relax."

Thalia and Ivan were currently up in the wintery woods halfway up the North Mountains. They had successfully snuck out of the castle and out of the town. Just in time too because Thalia had been resisting the urge to faint and to puke.

She hated the summer heat. She was already sporting a massive nosebleed and it wasn't until they had arrived at the other side of the bridge that Ivan had let her use her powers to keep herself cold until they climbed up the mountain.

Right now, they were on a snowy hill where they could see a perfect view of Arendelle. Thalia only wished that she had brought her sketchbook with her.

Meanwhile, Ivan was setting up some sort of sleigh that only went to each foot. He also had two sticks that he said were for supports and for gaining speed.

"Um… Ivan, I'm not so sure that this is safe." Thalia said as he attached a pair to each of her feet.

"Don't worry. I've already tried this out. It works great and it's a LOT of fun." He said, attaching his goggles on his face.

"And uh… what do you call this… thing?" Thalia asked him as she followed him awkwardly towards the top of the snow hill's slope.

"I call it… foot sleds!" Her cousin announced, raising a hand up in the air in triumph.

"Not quite… It needs more impact." Thalia suggested as she looked at the objects she was holding.

"Whatever, I'm calling 'em foot sleds. Alright, here goes! Whoooo!"

"Ivan! Wait!" Thalia yelled after him.

It was too late. Ivan had already slid down the slope and he was gaining speed. She could hear his joyful whoops from below but she felt her stomach churn unpleasantly. It was almost like it was warning her that something bad was going to happen.

Her eyes never left her cousin as he continued sliding down the hill. Her eyes widened. It was only for a split second but she saw him become unbalanced and soon, he was rolling down the hill and he hit a big rock with a dull thud.

"IVAN!"

Without even thinking, Thalia pushed herself off the edge and she slid down the hill with remarkable speed in an effort to save her cousin.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, suspense! Ivan's hurt! Again, tell me what you guys think, and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE KIND REVIEWERS! I LOVE YOU GUYS! I actually have a surprise for you guys in the next few chaps... or is it the next chap? Oh well, review!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Nothing really registered in Thalia's mind. All she knew was that she was sliding down the hill in record speed and then the next, the world was rolling her around and around. She felt her head collide with something very solid and very hard and her side come in contact with something.

Everything was blurry. She couldn't focus. Something warm was trickling down her forehead and it hurt like hell. Her side was also killing her. But she forced herself to lift her pounding head.

"I…Ivan…?" she croaked. She saw a blurry outline of something huge beside her. She raised her hands to find out what it was. It was a rock. She hit herself on this rock.

She heard something on her right and her eyes widened. Ivan was there beside her. This was also the rock that he had hit.

Her vision was going in and out of focus but she did all she could to get to him.

"Ivan… Ivan…" she said as she reached him. "Ivan… wake up… Ivan…"

She felt herself growing faint. She saw how her hands stained the clear, white snow red in front of her. She put a hand up to her forehead and she felt something warm and sticky flowing down from a stinging wound up there.

Uh oh.

"Ivan… Ivan… come on… wake… wake up…" she cried desperately. She placed a hand at her side. It hurts. A lot.

Darkness was threatening to overcome her as black splotches appeared in her vision. The ground suddenly tilted in her view and she was lying on her back in the snow as she lost consciousness.

* * *

Elsa nodded as Kai read out the written agreement between Arendelle and Vingriv. They had finally finalized their deal a few minutes ago and after Kai would be done, they would be free to go.. And it's about time too.

She reached for her goblet but she jumped back in surprise. Its contents were dripping from it and it had drenched the tablecloth, though she failed to notice.

"Your Majesty, I'm so sorry! I'll have a word with the servants. They should've known better, really. Serving damaged silverware." Kai said after he noticed her struggling with the golden goblet in her hands. He quickly went over and tried to take the goblet from her.

"No, no. It's fine, Kai." Elsa told him. She turned the water droplets on her skin to frost and brushed it off. Then, she turned her attention to the duke. "I'm terribly sorry for the sudden interruption, Duke Dmitri."

The duke raised a hand to stop her before she made a fuss. "It's fine, Queen Elsa. We've finished making our agreement and it already seems quite good from my perspective. You'll be a valuable trade partner, indeed. Thank you, for having me."

"No, it is I who should be thanking you, Duke Dmitri." Elsa said, bowing at the man.

The duke smiled and bowed to her, too. "Well, time to tell the court the good news. I'll be expecting the first shipment in a week, Your Majesty. I do understand that you'll be having company over this week."

Elsa looked at the duke in surprise. "You know about Corona's royal family visiting us here in Arendelle?"

"Of course. Everyone knows. The visits were quite the talk of the town back then. Did you know that your late father would often hunt with the previous king of Corona? The both of them always came back with their bags full of game. Yet they never take it back to the castle. They give it to the townspeople instead." Duke Dmitri told her. He had a nostalgic look on his face and it made him as old as he seemed. He snapped out of it before Elsa could make a comment though.

"Very well. I'll be on my way, your Majesty. Thank you again, for your time." He got up and kissed Elsa's hand out of courtesy.

"Yes, and you as well, Duke Dmitri." Elsa said as she waved at him as he exited the room. Once he was out of sight, Elsa immediately sat back in her chair and sighed.

"Well done, your Majesty. You handled that one extremely well." Kai praised as he rolled up the written agreement in his hands.

"Thank you." Elsa said as she picked up her goblet again. It was already emptied of its contents and she could now see clearly what caused the leakage. It was a large crack on the side of the golden goblet. Elsa's eyes widened.

She suddenly remembered Gerda's lectures about superstitions and the supernatural. Elsa was not entirely superstitious but the way the mysterious crack made itself known made her stomach twist in knots. Gerda used to say that cracks meant bad luck and it was often associated with bad omens, usually warning a person about bad things that would happen to them or their family.

But surely it's not possible? What was she thinking? Anna wasspending time with the gardeners. Kristoff was probably in the stables with Sven and Ivan. And her daughter… Thalia was in her room. Safe and sound.

But why did she have this sick feeling in her gut?

"Kai?"

"Yes, your Majesty?"

Elsa tried to calm herself. "Please, ask someone to check on my family quickly."

Kai looked confused at the queen's strange orders but he did not question her. He called the nearest servants and assigned them with a family member to check up on. Once they were gone, Kai went to Elsa, noticing her state.

"You're Majesty, you look a bit paler than usual." He commented as he poured her tea.

Elsa took it gratefully and took one careful sip. After she did, though, a servant came bursting in with a fearful look on her face. That sent Elsa on edge. _'Please don't say it! Don't say it!'_

"Your Majesty! The princess is missing!"

_'She said it.'_

All of a sudden, Elsa's mind went blank. "W-What?"

Kai went white beside her as he did a silent gasp. "Y-Your Majesty… the princess…"

Suddenly breathing was difficult for Elsa as she dropped the teacup in her hands. She ran a hand through her hair and she could feel tiny icicles forming in her fingers. She was already sure that she had frozen those around her but she did not care.

Thalia was missing.

She was hyperventilating and she knew it. But she forced herself to get up and call Kai anyway. "Get me my horse and… and call the guards. We're looking for the princess. Also… call Kristoff and Anna and tell them… tell them to meet me by the gates."

"Your Majesty… I-I think we should leave the search to the guards. Wouldn't you say? It's too reckless to go out there on your own." Kai said as he tried to get his queen to sit down.

But Elsa would have none of it. "My daughter is missing, Kai. I will not just sit around and wait for news. I need to go out there and find her." She said in the iciest tone anyone had ever heard.

Kai gulped. "T-Then I'll get your horse immediately, Y-Your Majesty."

Elsa sighed as she watched the man go. Her brow creased in worry and she ran a hand through her hair again. _'Where are you Thalia?'_

* * *

"Where's fire when I need it?" Ivan muttered as he pulled his winter jacket closer around himself. He remembered sliding down the hill in his "foot sleds" and then the next thing he knew, he was tumbling and spiraling out of control. He hit his head and then his back hit something and he passed out. Luckily he had a thick skull like his father or he would be sporting a concussion or an injury right now. He was lucky that he got away with just a few scratches and bruises.

Speaking of getting an injury, he glanced at his cousin worriedly. He had ripped the sleeves of her dress off, thinking that she wouldn't mind – the cold never bothered her anyway – and wrapped it around her head in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He put snow in the other sleeve and placed it on her side.

He figured that it must have been around four hours since they left the castle. Surely someone must have noticed? Thalia still wasn't waking up and she needed medical attention as soon as possible. At this rate, she might die from blood loss.

And he would freeze to death.

Ivan hoped he would get to say goodbye to his parents. There was no doubt that his aunt would kill him for dragging Thalia to the mountains and getting her nearly killed.

Ivan's ears perked up when he heard someone shout something from the top of the hill. He shouted at the top of his lungs to try and get the person above to notice them.

"HELP! SOMEBODY! PLEASE, HELP!"

* * *

Everything was quiet as the guards waited for a response. Elsa's heart rate picked up whenever there was this lapse of silence.

When a guard shook his head, they proceeded onwards and Elsa was left feeling worse than ever. What if something bad happened to her little girl? What if… what if she was already lying there in the snow, facedown, and-

She stopped herself from finishing that thought. Heavens forbid that her daughter was dead. She wouldn't know what to do without her. She took a shuddering breath to steady herself and forced herself to think positive.

It was impossible.

"It's okay, Anna. We'll find them." She heard Kristoff say to her accompanied her in the search party. They caught her just as they were about to depart. Kristoff had told her that Ivan was missing as well. His reindeer and sled weren't in the stables.

"Yeah… you're right. We'll… we'll find them. Y-Yeah…" Anna said, always the optimistic one.

As Kristoff put his arm around his wife to comfort her, Elsa looked away. If Tristan was here, would he comfort her the same way? Would he hold her in his arms and tell her Thalia was okay? That she was safe?

She hated Tristan. She hated him for showing her love and making her feel like this. She hated him for making her miss him this much it hurts.

"PRINCESS THALIA! PRINCE IVAN!" a guard shouted. This broke Elsa out of her thoughts. She shouldn't be thinking about Tristan. She should be worrying about her daughter right now.

She banished any thoughts she had of Tristan and breathed out.

"PRINCESS THALIA! PRINCE IVAN!"

Silence.

Elsa's felt her fear creep back in again. _'Please… come on. Answer.'_

"Nothing. Let's go forward." The guard said and he urged his horse to continue walking.

"Wait." Kristoff said.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What is it, Kristoff?" Anna asked, pulling her horse closer to her husband's.

Kristoff pointed to something up ahead. "Is that…? Isn't that Ivan's…? That's… that's Ivan's sled! THAT'S IVAN'S SLED!"

Elsa's head snapped towards the direction Kristoff was pointing at. "Thalia…" she whispered and snapped the reigns on her horse to get it to run towards the dark outline of the sled up ahead. She could hear the guards shouting at her to come back but she ignored them.

"I'm coming, Thalia…" she said as she got nearer to the sled. Ten feet. Seven feet. Four feet. Two feet. Elsa pulled her horse to a stop and jumped off, immediately steadying herself and running towards it.

She prepared herself for the worst. An unconscious Thalia with horrible injuries. An unconscious Ivan with horrible injuries. Both very damaged for wear and possibly close to death. But her face fell at what she _did_ see.

The sled was empty.

Elsa began to panic. "No… no… NO!" She shook her head frantically and shouted, "THALIA! THALIA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Elsa!"

The queen turned around and saw her sister running towards her. Elsa met Anna halfway and put her arms around her and buried her face in her neck. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She was supposed to be the elder sister, the one who should be comforting Anna. Instead, she clung to her younger sister like a small child wanting comfort from a terrifying nightmare.

"They… they weren't… there?" Anna asked hoarsely, already afraid of the answer.

A sob escaped Elsa as she shook her head.

Anna gulped. Her eyes looked frantically around for any tracks from Ivan and Thalia. Her eyes landed on footprints on the snow a feet from where they were standing.

"Elsa…"

Elsa sniffled in reply but she met her sister's gaze anyway. But her sister wasn't looking at her. She was looking at the snow.

"Anna? What are you-"

Anna wordlessly pushed her head to turn it around to face where she was facing. Elsa was about to object when her eyes landed on the footprints.

The sisters gasped and hope bubbled up inside them. Anna pulled away from Elsa to yell at her husband who still hadn't moved an inch from where they were before. "Kristoff! Kristoff! Come here, quick!"

Kristoff didn't even ask. He motioned to the guards to follow him as they trekked their horses up the hill the two sisters were on. Up to where his son's sled was.

"What is it?" he asked as he arrived.

Anna grabbed his hand and led him to the footprints. "Look!"

Kristoff's eyes widened at what he saw. "Footprints! Did you find this?"

Anna nodded. "So? Anything you can say about this?"

Kristoff made a 'hmm' sound as he examined the footprints. "They aren't as deep as freshly made footprints so it must've been a while since they've been here. See? Look here. It's partially covered with freshly fallen snow. They _had_ been here but it seems that they've wandered off. Towards…" Kristoff got up and followed the trail of footprints right up to the edge of the hill.

"Wait." Elsa said suddenly. "They've changed. Look. It looks like a straight line now."

Kristoff nodded at her. "It looks a bit like sled tracks. They went up here in the mountains just to go sledding?"

If that was the only reason they went up here, then Elsa would personally murder them.

"Wait." She heard Kristoff mutter as he examined the tracks closely.

"What? What is it?" Anna asked worriedly.

"They only slid down the hill once." Kristoff announced. "It's possible that they're still down there."

Elsa's breath caught in her throat after he said that. "You mean they're stuck there?"

Kristoff looked at her. "What are you talking about Elsa? All I'm saying is that they might be down there. It's not that they're stuck, I mean, they could've gone up if they wanted to."

"Yes… but why didn't they? It's because something went wrong while they were going down." Elsa told him.

"You don't know that Elsa. Don't jump to conclusions like that. You never know, maybe they're having a snowball fight down there." Kristoff reasoned.

"Do you hear them laughing or yelling, Kristoff? No! I'm telling you, something went wrong and we have to go down there immediately!" Elsa was not going to delay their descent down the hill. "Please, I just know it, Kristoff."

Anna bit her lip and spoke up. "She's right, Kristoff. I have a horrible feeling in my gut, too."

Kristoff looked at the sisters before sighing exasperatedly. "Mother's instincts…" he mumbled as he whistled at his horse. As his horse came closer towards him, Kristoff's just realized something and his face suddenly fell as he turned around to face Elsa and Anna.

"Hey, did you guys see Sven II when you came up here?" he asked.

The sisters looked at each other and then shook their heads. Kristoff's eyes widened and he frantically called at everyone to hurry up and ride down the hill.

"Kristoff, what are you-"

"Just come on!"

"Kristoff, will you just tell us what's going on?!" Anna yelled as she tried to catch up to her husband.

Kristoff groaned and threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Look, Elsa's hunch was right. Something _did_ go wrong."

"Wha-? That's what she's been telling you the whole time and it only just registered in your head?" Anna asked in disbelief.

"Oh for the love of- Look! Ivan's reindeer is missing! Reindeers are supposed to stay put until their master tells them to move or if it senses that it's master is in danger. Get it now?" Kristoff explained as he watched the realization dawn on Anna's face.

"Oh no…"

"Yep. Come on, climb up your horse!"

* * *

Ivan waited for a reply from the people up the hill. He heard the sound about ten minutes ago. If it was somebody who came to rescue them, then it was about time. The sky was starting to darken as nightfall approached. He strained his ears again. Come on… and…

Nothing.

"HELP! PLEASE! SOMEBODY!" he yelled again. Still, there was no reply and he slumped in his sitting position. He looked at Thalia worriedly again. Her skin was turning paler and paler and he could tell that this was not because of her complexion. She was dying.

"Hello?"

Ivan's eyes widened at that. He definitely heard it. He looked around frantically and finally, his eyes landed on a single lit lantern ahead. He could make out three people and some horses but that was all.

"OVER HERE! HELP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"There! Over there, men! Quickly!" he heard someone say.

Ivan tried to fight off his dizziness and fatigue as the figures came closer. _'Don't worry Ivan, help is on its way. Come on.'_

He could hear their footsteps getting louder and louder as they approached until he could feel them standing right beside him. He felt strong arms pulling him up and leading him somewhere.

"My… my cousin… please, she's injured." He choked out. Everything was spinning and he had the sudden urge to puke. Okay, so maybe he had a concussion after all.

"Don't worry. We brought a first aid kit. We'll patch her up until she can see a doctor." He heard a voice say to his right. It was unfamiliar.

"Who… who are you…?" Ivan asked.

"Us? Oh, we're Prince Flynn's bodyguards." The man replied.

"Prince…?"

"Yes. The Prince of Corona, Prince Flynn Fitzherbert. He's the one who found your reindeer and heard your cries of help."

* * *

**A/N:** There we go. There's the surprise I was talking about. Tangled crossover. Did I do alright? I really have no idea on what the body does when it acquires injuries nor do I know about how to treat them. Please point out my mistakes on your review and I'll change them. Hope you liked this chapter, it was a bit rushed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

When Thalia woke up, she found herself in a bed in a small wooden room. It looked like a cabin in a ship. That, in itself, was weird. She remembered being in the mountains, trying out her cousin's invention and then disaster.

How did she even get in here? And where was Ivan? Was she… kidnapped? Oh no… this is bad. Her mother would definitely kill her if she found out that she snuck out and she wasn't home for dinner…

The door suddenly opened and Thalia froze. She snapped out of it a few seconds later and tried to get up but her body protested. It felt like she had been run over by fifty Svens.

"Whoa. Don't get up, yet!" she heard a voice from the side of the bed.

Her vision was going in and out of focus but she forced herself to look at her kidnapper.

"Who… who are you?" she asked between pants. Great, she was also having trouble breathing.

"I'm Prince Flynn Fitzherbert of Corona. You're currently aboard our ship, in case you where wondering." Said the person beside her. Thalia was surprised at how young the voice sounded. The person wasn't that tall either. Honestly, he looked like a child, or so her blurry vision suggested.

"My… companion. Where… where is he?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Oh. The guards told me that he was your cousin. He is currently inside another cabin, being tended to. Here, drink some water. Slowly… your stomach won't handle it too well if you take in a lot." He said as he handed the glass to Thalia. He helped her sip the water as gently as he could.

Thalia drank up eagerly but she found that what the prince said was right. It was like her throat and her stomach were working together to reject the cool liquid so she had only swallowed a few sips. "Thanks… but I could've done it myself." She said, pushing herself up on the bed despite Prince Flynn's protests.

"So… we're on your ship… Where are we headed?" Thalia asked him, her eyes suspicious of anything he might do. Not that it would mean anything as everything else around her kept spinning and blurring over again and again.

"Actually, we've already arrived. We're in Arendelle. I was exploring the mountains with my guards until we found you and your cousin. You were in bad shape." Flynn explained.

"You – ugh, that hurts, ahem – You could've just brought me back home."

"We would have… but you were dying from blood loss and we needed a doctor to see to you as soon as possible. We didn't have a choice, plus, I don't know you."

Thalia looked at him as though he had suddenly declared that he was fairy princess wearing a pink tutu. "You… you don't know who I am?"

The prince shook his head.

"Wha-? M-My name is Princess Thalia Duberick of Arendelle." She told him.

Prince Flynn's eyes widened. "Y-You…? You're the princess of…? Oh, dear…"

"What?" Thalia asked him.

"We were just informed that the Royal Family was not in the castle because they were searching for the missing prince and princess." He replied.

"Mama and… They're up at the mountains?"

"Yes. Oh no… this is a disaster. Please excuse me, Princess. I'll go and send one of my men to get the message to her majesty." Flynn said, getting up.

Thalia had a confused looked on her face as the prince left her. _'How old is he, 12? 13? How come he's so formal?'_

Unfortunately, she didn't have time to think about it as she felt herself becoming dizzy. The pain was still there and oh did her head hurt...

* * *

"Nothing." Kristoff said dejectedly as his knees gave away. His eyes were wide with horror as he stared at where the tracks ended. Anna also had the same expression he wore as she put her arms around her husband.

Elsa's mouth was hanging open as her eyes took in the scene. There were broken pieces of wood, probably from the sled they were using, and shreds of clothing. But what made her drop down on her knees was the sickening stain in the snow.

The horrid color of red.

It was blood.

The children had been injured.

"I knew it…" she whispered hoarsely as she put a hand to her mouth. "I knew it…" tears had started to fall down her pale cheeks but she did not try and hide it from her soldiers or her sister and Kristoff. "Thalia…"

"But… Ivan… he… he knows this mountain…" Kristoff kept mumbling as Anna hugged him fiercely, tears streaming down her face as she did so. "He's alive. He's alive. I know he's alive."

"Yeah…" Anna told him. "He's okay. Our son's okay. He'll be alright. He's a… he's a survivor."

Elsa closed her eyes tightly as she heard their dialogue play out. How could those two be so optimistic?! Can't they see what's happening? Their children were in danger! Her _daughter_ and her _nephew_ were missing! There's even blood for heaven's sake!

"How can you two say those things?" she seethed as she pushed herself up, not willing to look at the stain on the snow any longer.

Anna and Kristoff looked up at her in surprise. "What… what are you talking about, Elsa?" Anna asked.

"Can't you two be realistic for once? It's possible that either of them or even the both of them are gravely injured. And from those stains, I'd say they've lost a fair amount of blood. If they're even still out here, given that that accident happened an hour or two ago, the kids would be dying. And it's worse for Ivan because he can feel the cold. He'll get frostbite and then, he'll di-"

"Stop!" Anna screamed, covering her ears. "Just stop! Stop Elsa, please…" Anna had finally broken down. "Stop… please. Don't say that…"

It took Elsa a few good seconds before she realized what she had said. She was still fuming and a bit irritated at being interrupted that what her sister said hadn't registered yet. She gasped and her eyes widened when she _did_ realize she had gone too far. "Anna… Anna, I'm so sorry. I…"

"Elsa," Kristoff said, giving her a hard stare. "Please, just stop. Okay? You think it's easy? Huh? We know, alright? Thalia has a better chance at surviving in these conditions. She can't feel the cold. She's lucky."

Elsa balled her hands into fists to keep herself from losing control. "You think she's lucky? Huh? She's still human, Kristoff. Even Thalia can die from an injury or blood loss or infection." She was winding back up again. "You think she won't? Why? Because she's different? She has powers, is that it? Kristoff, try to think. We're just as human as you are. We might not feel the cold but we can feel pain. Just what do you think we are? Monsters? Freaks?"

Kristoff looked away and Elsa let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes. _'Keep it together. Control it. Breathe in. Breathe out.'_

Elsa opened them again and composed herself. It would not do them any good if they just stayed here and argued like kids. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go this far. I'll take all the blame in this argument but please, let's just keep moving. The children are still in danger. It wouldn't be wise to keep them waiting."

There was a momentary lapse of silence before Kristoff gave her a silent nod as he pulled himself and a quietly sobbing Anna up on their feet.

"Let's look for more tracks… or maybe follow the blood…" Kristoff said. He helped Anna up on her horse, whispering small words of comfort before he climbed up on his own horse.

Though the idea of following the blood sickened her, Elsa forced herself to be strong. This was all for Thalia.

Before she could order her companions to depart, however, they saw another horse galloping towards them. The guards immediately reached out for their weapons, ready to protect the royal family if the need should arise.

"Wait! Please!" The horse's rider shouted, flailing an arm around to get their attention.

Elsa's eyes narrowed at the sight of the crest the horse and its rider wore. The rider pulled to a stop beside the queen and said, "I bring a message from the Queen of Corona."

Elsa's eyes widened for quite possibly the hundredth time that day. The queen was already here? But she had said that she was arriving later in the week. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"The Queen apologizes for her punctuality" Odd. She never thought she'd hear the words 'punctual' and 'apologize' in the same sentence. "and she wishes for you to come back to Arendelle immediately."

Kristoff glared at the man. "Look, buddy, I don't know if the guards or Kai told you, but we are currently busy. We're looking for-"

"That's just it, my good sir." The rider said impatiently. "The Queen's son, Prince Flynn, found two children while he was exploring the mountains shortly after arriving. He came across Princess Thalia and Prince Ivan of Arendelle."

Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff gasped at the information.

"Wait. What? They're where?" Kristoff asked.

"They're in Arendelle. Well… they're aboard our ship. The prince found them in a horrid state, believe me. Both of them needed medical attention. Prince Flynn wasn't informed of their identities until Princess Thalia woke up briefly." The rider replied.

Elsa slowly digested everything the man had said. Her daughter was in Arendelle. She was okay. She was alive. As much as she wanted to go there right now, she still had a lot of questions. But maybe they could wait. Just until she was beside her baby girl.

"Men, we go back to Arendelle at once. Jorgen, take another man with you and recover Prince Ivan's sled. The rest will follow us to Arendelle." Elsa announced, surprised at how steady her voice was.

There was a chorus of 'Yes, your majesty!' before Jorgen and another guard broke off from them to retrieve Ivan's sled. Elsa sighed and nodded at the rider to tell him to take the lead. Kristoff shot him a look that clearly said, 'I don't trust you' which Anna was quick to wipe off his face by slapping his arm.

* * *

They arrived fairly quickly at Arendelle. Elsa had insisted that they quicken their pace and none were too eager to complain. The ice that had trailed off of the queen's tracks had made itself known when they had descended from the mountains and they knew that the queen wasn't too stable right now.

They arrived at the docks and Elsa and Anna looked at each other before shuddering at the memory of their parents' death.

"This way, your majesty. Your Highness." The rider said, beckoning them aboard the ship.

Elsa hesitated before placing her foot on the wooden platform. _'Just this once, Elsa, and you'll never find yourself in another ship ever again.'_

She quickly followed the rider aboard the ship and she instantly felt the waves sway her around. "Where is my daughter?"

"Right here, your majesty." He said, going on ahead to show them the way. Elsa could hear Anna and Kristoff talking behind her but she ignored them for now. She followed the rider but she found him stopping and bowing before a woman dressed elegantly amongst the crew members. The woman spotted her and beckoned her to come closer.

She smiled at Elsa kindly. "Queen Elsa, I presume? My name is Rapunzel. We've exchanged letters, if you remember. I'm really sorry for arriving much earlier than anticipated but we didn't really expect the captain of the ship to recover quickly from the flu. We kind of deduced that he'd be well by the end of the week so that's what I told you in the letter." A small frog-like creature on her shoulder made a sound and it alerted both royals. "Oh, sorry Pascal. Queen Elsa, this is Pascal, my best friend."

Elsa was a bit intrigued at this but she simply nodded. She just wanted to see her daughter. She attempted to smile but it looked too forced. Queen Rapunzel noticed this and she smiled at her in understanding.

"I know. You want to see your daughter. I won't keep you waiting but I will brief you with some details on the way. Come on." Rapunzel said, leading the way.

Elsa nodded and followed her.

"My son, Flynn, found them while he was trekking up the mountain. The boy, Ivan…" Anna and Kristoff immediately perked up at this. Queen Rapunzel noticed this and she looked at them.

"I take it you're his parents?" Rapunzel asked.

Kristoff and Anna nodded, anxious to hear about their son.

"He's alright. Just a mild concussion and a few scratches and bruises. His thick clothing saved him from any deep wounds. Other than that, he's fine." Rapunzel told them.

Anna and Kristoff's faces flooded with relief and joy after they heard that. Elsa's did too… until she put the pieces together in her head. Her eyes widened in horror after she did.

"But… but we saw a lot of blood… if Ivan didn't acquire deep wounds then… then you don't mean…?"

Rapunzel looked at her sadly as she replied. "Yeah… it was Thalia's blood you saw."

Elsa felt like a ton of bricks hit her all at once. It was like she had been hit by a swift blow to the gut and her heart clenched painfully. It was getting harder to breath and she had to lean on the railing to keep herself up.

All that blood… was from…

Elsa put a hand to her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. What happened? What happened to her baby? She finally found her voice for her to ask, "W-What… what happened?"

Rapunzel placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder, taking note of the frost around her and it was only spreading. "She… Well, when we found her, she had a serious head injury, that's where most of the blood came from. Her side was also badly damaged. It's bruising very badly."

Elsa looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Take me to her. Please."

Rapunzel nodded, putting a hand around Elsa's shoulders and leading her to a door ahead. She looked back at Anna and Kristoff and told them that Ivan's door was just beside where they were standing at. Kristoff looked like he wanted to say something to Elsa but he shook his head and led Anna inside Ivan's room.

"Right here, Queen Elsa." Rapunzel said, pushing open a door to her left. Elsa wasted no time as she entered the cabin room and her eyes searched frantically for her daughter. But when her eyes landed on her baby girl, she suddenly wished that she hadn't. Because the sight that met her broke her heart.

Thalia lay unconscious on the bed, deathly pale with bandages on her head. A small stain of blood was already visible on its surface. There were a few scratches on her face but what caught Elsa's eye was the bruise below her lip. She couldn't see anything else other than that. A blanket was covering half of her daughter's body so she couldn't see the bruise on her side, which she was just thankful for. She didn't think that she would manage if she saw it. Thalia's bandaged head was enough to set her off.

Elsa clapped her hands to her mouth and she moved towards the bed in a trance-like state. She just couldn't believe it. Her strong, energetic snowflake… reduced to… to this. She arrived at the bedside and the dam broke. She just couldn't take seeing her like this. She reached out at Thalia with shaking hands and they rested on her cheeks.

"T-Thalia…?" she choked out, feeling her heart being twisted and crushed inside her. "Thallie…?"

There wasn't any form of response from Thalia. She stayed the same. Not even a quiet mumble. This frightened Elsa.

She grasped her daughter's hand tightly in hers. "Thal… it's going to be okay now… Mama's here. Just… just wake up, please… I'm not going to get mad." She sobbed. Her tears were already wetting her daughter's hand and her blanket but she didn't care. She just wanted Thalia to wake up.

Rapunzel, who had followed her inside, also had tears in her eyes as she watched Elsa. She was a mother too and she was pretty sure she would also react like this if Flynn would be injured badly. If only she still had her magical hair…

She walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Elsa's shoulder. Elsa didn't move away or flinch.

"Queen Rapunzel…" Elsa began, not tearing her eyes away from Thalia's face.

Rapunzel shook her head. "Rapunzel, Queen Elsa, please." She said with a smile.

Elsa wiped her tears and looked at her. "What?"

"Just Rapunzel, please." She said.

Elsa nodded. "Then please, call me Elsa."

"Okay…"

Elsa went back to staring at Thalia's face but she continued their conversation. "Rapunzel… I can't even begin to thank you for saving my nephew's and my daughter's life. I'm forever indebted to you and your kingdom. For what it's worth… I… Thank you. Thank you so much…"

"Hey, come on. You don't owe us anything. All we did was save a child. We didn't even know their identities. Even I know you'd do the same for anyone you'd come across with like that." Rapunzel assured her. "A simple thanks is enough."

Elsa shook her head. "I owe you more than that."

Rapunzel laughed softly at that. "Sorry. It's just that, you don't really have to do anything. A life is more precious than a kingdom's riches. I know… I've been there before. But seriously, all I did, all my son did, was just to save a person's life and there is no greater value than to know that we did right in God's eyes. It doesn't matter if the person is royalty or not. What matters is what we do to save them."

Elsa finally tore her eyes away from Thalia to look at the queen of Corona. "Then, please allow me to thank you formally."

"But… I thought you just did." Rapunzel asked, puzzled.

"No, I mean, you came to Arendelle for a happier reason but it was dampened by this unexpected accident. I… I was thinking of hosting a ball. In honor of Corona's heroic act of saving the princess of Arendelle."

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "No! You don't need to go that far!"

Elsa looked at Rapunzel seriously. "Please, Rapunzel. It's the least I could do. I know you won't accept anything I would offer you other than a simple thank you. I want you to at least have fun in your visit here in Arendelle."

Rapunzel, the Queen of Corona, actually pouted and crossed her arms after Elsa said that and it made the queen of Arendelle smile, somewhat.

"Fine, we're having a ball…" Rapunzel relented and grinned at Elsa.

* * *

**A/N:** And mother and daughter are reunited again. How was it? I know, it's kind of weird, having Rapunzel as queen. Her mother will always be queen in my eyes but I just have to consider their age. Oohh... what kind of things would go down in that ball? I sense Kristoff's "Protect-Thalia-at-all-costs-from-boys" senses tingling.

Please tell me what you guys think and please point out any mistakes I made. Also, I'm need suggestions for mommy Elsa taking care of injured Thalia. You guys have one?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Ivan had been awake for a couple of minutes now. He could hear multiple voices outside of the room he was placed in and they were kind of muffled so he couldn't get anything coherent anyway. The people who came into his room only ever came to check on him or to see if he had eaten the food they had provided for him. He was a bit wary because they were strangers and apparently, they came from another kingdom. Corona, if memory served him right.

The guards who rescued him and Thalia did not show up again, though he always heard the name Flynn whenever somebody came in. This Prince Flynn, whoever he is, had never made himself known. He didn't care to introduce himself to the people he rescued.

He groaned as he heard the door open again. '_Great, another one to check on me. Don't they get the message already? I don't trust them_.' If they gave him any information about Thalia then maybe he would be willing to cooperate.

"Ivan?"

His eyes widened at that. He knew that voice all too well. He shot straight up from his position on the bed and his mouth dropped to the floor when his eyes landed on the two people at the door.

"Mom?! Dad?!" he asked in disbelief.

Anna let out a sound that sounded a bit like a war cry as she launched herself on her son. "OH MY GOD! IVAN! YOU'RE ALRIGHT! YOU'RE ALIVE! OH MY… LET ME SEE! ARE YOU HURT?! WHERE DOES IT HURT?! LET ME SEE YOUR FACE!" Anna said, inspecting every bit of his face, arms and chest. She was still stretching his mouth open to inspect his teeth when Ivan pried her arms away.

"I'm fine, Mom." He said as he rubbed his jaw. He was surprised at how strong his mother's grip was. And it was only proven when Anna latched herself again on her son to hug the life out of him.

Ivan was still speechless as he felt his mother's grip tighten around him. His father was walking towards them in a slower pace than Anna's but he had a relieved look on his face all the same.

"D…ad… help…" Ivan choked out as Anna's grip became tighter and tighter.

"OH MY BABY BOY! DON'T EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN! YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH, DAMN YOU!"

"And… you're cho…king me… to death… dammit!" He was starting to turn blue but Anna did not notice. Kristoff immediately sprang into action and pried his wife away from his son.

"Okay, let's not crush him." He said as he put a secure grip on Anna.

"But Kristoff!" she begged, her hands itching to wrap itself around Ivan again. Ivan was still gulping in the precious air and paid little attention to his parents. If this keeps up then he would probably die before his aunt would get her hands on him.

Speaking of his aunt…

"Hey," Ivan said once he thought that his lungs were full of air, "where's aunt Elsa?"

Kristoff and Anna stopped bickering at that and their eyes turned downcast. Anna was the one who answered his question.

"She's gone to see Thalia."

Ivan perked up at hearing his cousin's name. "She is? How is she? Did they treat her? Is she okay now? What did the doctor say? Did you see her?"

Anna patted his shoulder. "Slow down, Ivan. Queen Rapunzel said she'd be okay…" she assured her son. "…somehow." She added.

The relieved look on Ivan's face vanished shortly after Anna added the 'somehow' part. "What?"

"That cut on her head won't heal easily and that bruise would stay for about a few weeks but… like I said, she'll be alright… somehow."

Ivan's shoulders slumped after hearing that. "It's all my fault…" he moaned as he buried his face in his hands. "I told her to come with me to the mountains…"

Anna stopped rubbing Ivan's back after she heard that. "Wait. What? You were the one who suggested going to the mountains?!"

Ivan gulped. He should've kept his mouth shut. "I-I'm sorry…" He cowered away from his mother even though he was almost as tall as her now. "I… I was stupid… I… I thought that hill was… was safe enough… I… Please don't kill me, mom!"

Anna was speechless after hearing that. The cause of this emotional, traumatic day was a rash decision to go into the mountains to go sledding? Oh… Elsa was going to murder these two.

"I wouldn't worry about me, Ivan. Worry about what your aunt will do to the both of you once she finds out." Anna told him.

An expression of horror grew on Ivan's face. "Wha-? And you're just gonna hand me over to her?!"

Kristoff yawned. "Well, it _was_ your fault."

"I can't believe you! Some parents you are! Aunt Elsa's going to murder me brutally! And it's not gonna be quick! She'll do it slowly! And.. And painfully!"

"Nah, I think I heard her mumbling something about ice spears and icicle daggers…" Anna told her son.

Kristoff sat up. "You don't think she'll cage him in ice and poke sharp icy things inside him one by one, do you?

"Yeah… I think she had something like that in mind."

"I don't think there's anything we can do about it, do you?"

"Nope."

Ivan was practically crying as he clamped his hands over his ears. Anna rolled her eyes and slapped Kristoff's arm. "Alright, that's enough. We don't need to traumatize him. He's had enough for today."

Kristoff chuckled. "It was fun while it lasted."

Ivan, who was listing possible plans of escape and constructing a beautifully written apology to Elsa inside his head, looked up at his parents and glared at them. "I _hate_ you! I loathe you! I really, really do!"

Anna and Kristoff looked at him, then at each other, and laughed. Their plan on taking this easy worked well. They don't need to worry Ivan about how Thalia was right now. It would be better if Thalia got all the peace and quiet she had right now because once Ivan found out, she was certain that Elsa would be mad that her face wouldn't be the one Thalia saw when she woke up.

* * *

It was nearing ten o'clock in the evening.

Queen Elsa of Arendelle still kept constant watch over her daughter who still hadn't regained consciousness. A doctor came in every once in a while to check on Thalia but he only kept to himself as he worked. He occasionally mumbled a few things under his breath and sighed. And it wasn't a sigh of relief.

Elsa asked him about her daughter after he was done but he only muttered the words, "No changes, yet."

Elsa gripped Thalia's hand tightly in hers. She didn't know for how long she had been doing this. As she stared at her fingers, she noticed that her daughter's hand was significantly paler than hers. This only increased her worries. The doctor told her once that Thalia was cold to the touch. Elsa told him that it was normal because of her powers but thinking back on it now, was that really the reason they were cold? What if they were colder than normal?

She hated herself for not being able to tell. She wasn't able to feel the cold. She never thought it would be a burden to her until now.

"Thal?" she whispered. She couldn't count the number of times she had called her name tonight but she did not care. She would do this until she got a response, no matter how small. "Thal? Please wake up…"

She placed her lips on Thalia's hand to kiss it. "Come on… Wake up, Thal…"

Thalia never moved. She stayed ever silent.

Elsa groaned and put a hand to her forehead while the other stayed on her daughter's hand. "Come on, Thal… I really need you to wake up. Please? Thalia?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice sounded and it sounded a bit like how her one-sided conversation with Thalia played out.

_'Thal? Wake up, Thal…'_

Elsa's eyes widened and she shook her head. That was Tristan's voice. _Great_. Him again. As much as she hated it, a memory that she had long since stowed away in the depths of her mind replayed itself.

_'Come on, Thallie… Wake up. Please?' Tristan begged childishly at the small baby inside the crib. _

_'Tristan, I swear, if you wake her…'_

Elsa tried to stop the memory. She didn't need this right now.

_Tristan did not listen to her as he pushed his head deeper inside the crib. 'Thallie… wake up. Wake up, sweety. Daddy's here… Come on…' he cooed. Thalia made a noise as she moved her tiny hands, like she was annoyed by her father's voice interrupting her dreams._

_'See? Even she doesn't want to be disturbed.' She said, smiling at her little girl. Still a few months old and she was already like her mother. _

_Tristan pouted. 'Why does she have to be so much like you?' he muttered to himself._

_Elsa caught it. 'Is there supposed to be a hidden meaning to that?'_

_Tristan looked at her. 'What? No! I… I mean it's great that we have a mini-Elsa…" Elsa made a face at that nickname. It had really stuck ever since Kristoff said it. '… but it's just… Did I ever pass anything on to this kid? She's just… you. In every way.'_

_Elsa rolled her eyes. 'You don't know that, Tristan. For all we know, she inherited your personality.' After she said it, Elsa's eyes widened and she waved her hand. 'Never mind. Forget what I said.'_

_Tristan, whose spirits had been lifted when Elsa told him that their daughter might inherit his personality, glared at her when she took back her comment. 'I hate you...'_

_'And I love you, too.' She laughed as she walked over towards the crib._

Elsa made a face. Did she really say that? This memory was false. That was it. That could be the only explanation. How dare this false memory play out in her head.

_Tristan looked at her with his pouty face. 'You're mean…'_

_'We already named her after you. Isn't that enough?' Elsa asked him. There had been a small debate over their daughter's name and Elsa was still a bit sour about it._

_'I wanted to name her Tristanna…" Tristan sulked._

_'You know I won't allow that.' Elsa told him. She shuddered at the memory of her listening to Anna and Kristoff listing down names for their baby. Kristoff wanted to name it 'Kristanna' if it was a girl, telling them that it was both a feminine version of his name, and a combination of his and Anna's name. Elsa scratched it out immediately. If she was having a niece, then she wanted it to be spared of this embarrassment._

_'I still want to name her Tristanna…' her husband said._

_Elsa laughed and patted her immature husband's head. She never expected him to turn into this after she married him. She was so used to seeing him so formal and well… goofy, when he had courted her that seeing the prince of Duberick like this made her laugh._

_'Tristan, you know you look ugly when you do that.' She stated, running her hand through his dark hair._

_Tristan looked at her with his emerald eyes and smiled. 'I don't care. I have the most beautiful wife in the entire planet.' He said and hugged her middle tightly, burying his head in her stomach like he was a small boy._

_Elsa blushed heavily at his statement. They were already married for more than a year but she still wasn't used to this. She had called herself a monster, a weapon… a witch for so many years that she would lose her composure whenever her husband made a few offhand comments like that. 'Stop that, Tristan.'_

_'Never, my beautiful goddess.' Tristan mumbled as he hugged her more tightly. Elsa let him be for a few seconds before prying him off of her._

_'Okay… that's enough of that.' She told him as she straightened out her dress. 'I have a meeting in thirty minutes.'_

_Tristan immediately turned to his overprotective mode. 'Can't they give you a break?'_

_'They already have.' Elsa said, sitting in front of the mirror and touching up on her make-up._

_'But you just gave birth.' Tristan whined as he set his head on the crib's railing, tracing his index finger lightly on his daughter's cool face. _

_'Yeah, three months ago.' Elsa said, smoothing a stray hair back in her neat bun and looked over herself one last time on the mirror. 'I'll go to the meeting now, Tristan. You'll be okay with Thalia, right?' _

_'Yeah…' came Tristan's reply._

_She stood up and glanced back at her husband. Her heart melted at the sight instantly. Tristan had the most peaceful look on his face as he traced Thalia's features and tried to get her to clench her small fists around his finger. Even from her distance, she could see the amazement in her husband's eyes. The scene was just too adorable. _

_'Be careful, okay?' she said as she moved towards the door._

_'Sure…' Tristan responded._

_Just as she was about to leave, Thalia started to whimper and cry. It seems that the little princess had enough of her father's constant touching. It's either that or just that she sensed that her mother was leaving the premises. Panic started to settle on Tristan's face as he turned to Elsa for help._

_'Don't look at me. I told you not to wake her.' She said as she continued walking down the hall. She could hear Tristan's desperate calls for her but she only smirked. She had to let him taste what she dealt with every night._

A knock sounded on the door and Elsa jumped slightly.

"Elsa? It's me, Anna."

Elsa sighed and composed herself. "Come in, Anna."

She turned her attention back to the now twelve-year old Thalia lying unconscious on the bed. Anna closed the door behind her softly and sat herself on the chair Rapunzel had left earlier.

"How is she?" Anna asked, seeing her niece for the first time since they boarded the ship. Thalia really _did_ look as busted up as Ivan had described.

"The doctor keeps saying that there aren't any changes yet. I don't really know what he means. He's so quiet. Why would they even hire a guy like that?" Elsa seethed as the doctor's face came into view in her mind.

Anna put a hand on her sister's shoulder to calm her. "Hey, come on. He was the one who patched her up."

Elsa sighed. "Right… he patched her up." She supposed she was thankful for that. If he hadn't, her daughter would've bled to death.

Anna scrunched up her face at Thalia's ghostly pale skin. She reached out a hand to touch her cheek but she instantly withdrew it when her finger came in contact with her niece's face. Elsa looked at her, puzzled and worried at her reaction.

"What? What is it?" she asked.

Anna looked at Elsa fearfully. "Thalia's… Thalia's cooler than usual. Like… really cold."

Elsa's eyes widened. She _knew_ something was off with her daughter's temperature! She had that nagging feeling ever since that stupid doctor checked it a few hours ago. Now that Anna had actually confirmed it, she could sense her panic settle inside her as she looked at her daughter again.

Before she could say something, the doctor burst through the door with a bag in hand. Two men followed him inside with some sort of machine. Elsa's eyes narrowed at them. What were they going to do with her baby?

Anna voiced out her thoughts first though. "Um… what is that?"

The doctor did not look up as he set the machine up near Thalia's bed. Elsa placed a hand protectively over her daughter.

"Relax, your highnesses. This is something we use to transfuse blood." The doctor replied simply as he twisted a part on the machine.

"What… with what now?" Anna said, not sure if she understood what the man said.

The doctor sighed impatiently. "It's a new sort of technology the British people discovered. _This_," he said, patting the machine lightly, "is used to, how do I say this… er, 'inject' blood into the patient. To give you a watered down explanation, Princess Thalia has lost a good amount of blood because of her head injury and she needs a transfusion immediately. This would explain her paleness and cold state because I doubt her powers are the reason here."

Elsa let the words sink in. Basically, they were going to give Thalia blood because she lost a lot after she hit her head, which would explain her paleness. "And… h-how are you going to… to do it?" she asked, her hands shaking as she waited for an answer. She knew this was going to help Thalia but if this machine would do something like hurt her further, then she would most likely decline. This new technology or whatever he had called it, was new to her and she did not trust it.

"Simple. We inject this small hose up her arm with this needle and then-"

"You need to… what with what now?" Elsa asked, not minding her incoherent sentence. She really _was_ a lot like Anna. More than she'd like to take credit for.

"Your majesty, please. We need to do this soon. If we don't give the princess more blood, then there won't be a guarantee that she'd live."

Elsa felt like she had been slapped when the doctor said that. _There won't be… There won't be a guarantee that… that she'd live…_

The doctor pulled on a pair of surgical gloves as he watched the Queen. "Do you understand now? Would you rather give her a small injection or not really have her at all?"

"Of course I want to save her life! But how do I know that this… _machine_ of yours won't harm my daughter?" the queen argued.

"Your majesty, with all due respect, this machine has been tried and tested and I can assure you that it will save your daughter's life." The doctor said. He really did not want to get on the queen's bad side but this was getting ridiculous. How can she contemplate on this? She only had to make a choice between doing this, or not. It wasn't that difficult since her daughter's life was on the line here.

Elsa looked between her sister and Thalia. She saw Anna nod at her and she bit her lip. She can't let Thalia suffer any longer.

"Alright. We'll do it." She said, feeling her knees go weak as she said so.

The doctor clapped his hands. "Good. Come here for a bit, your majesty. I'm just going to see if your blood is compatible with your daughter's." he said as he motioned to a chair beside him.

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Your majesty, please. Are we doing this or not?" the man said, getting impatient again.

Elsa gave him a suspicious look and then she finally complied and sat in the chair beside him. He took her arm and rolled up her sleeve. This made Elsa pull away.

"_What_ are you doing?!" she screeched, appalled at his actions.

The doctor rolled his eyes. "I will need a sample of blood from you if I'm going to check the compatibility of your blood, your majesty. I'm not simply just going to stare at your arm for hours on end."

Elsa narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you being sarcastic with me?" She could hear Anna giggle behind her but she paid her no mind.

"No, your majesty. Just merely pointing out things… Now, the arm." He demanded.

Elsa reluctantly placed her arm in the doctor's hands. He asked for a syringe from his assistant and they wordlessly gave him one. He positioned it above a spot on Elsa's pale arm and looked up at her.

"This is going to hurt a bit." He warned her.

Elsa nodded at him and he inserted the syringe in her arm. The queen bit back a yelp of pain as he pulled it up and she saw her blood being drawn from her skin. Once the doctor was satisfied, he pulled the syringe out and quickly put a swab of cotton on the tiny hole he made on Elsa's arm.

"That looked painful." Anna commented as she watched her sister take up her spot on Thalia's bedside.

"You think?" Elsa said sarcastically as she pressed the cotton harder on the small hole.

The doctor made a 'hmm' sound as he examined the queen's blood now contained in a vial. "I'll check this in my room. Meanwhile, one of my assistants will attend to you. Daniel, stay with them." He said as he left the room.

Anna moved closer to Elsa to examine the syringe sting she got. "I wonder if the trolls would even consider healing something as small as that?" she mused loudly.

Elsa did not know where her sister gets her ideas from but she just hoped that it would keep it to a minimal. She didn't want things to be too crazy.

Anna suddenly gasped and looked at Elsa. Elsa raised her eyebrows at her.

"What?"

"The trolls!"

"Yes…? What about them?" Elsa asked her, confused.

"The trolls could heal Thalia!" Anna announced, smiling widely at her sister. Elsa, however, did not return it. "Elsa? Why the long face? Come on, we could ask the trolls to heal Thalia."

"Anna," Elsa said sadly. "the trolls won't be able to heal her. One, we can't risk moving Thalia anywhere right now. Why do you think we're still on this ship? And two, the trolls never leave their home in the mountains. We can't just ask them to come down to the docks. That option is out, Anna."

* * *

It took a long time but the doctor came back with the results. Elsa and Anna had been waiting for him anxiously.

"And so, after careful examination, I found that you and your daughter's blood type do not match." The doctor said sadly as he took off his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief.

Elsa's mouth fell open at the doctor's statement. "What… What do you mean we don't match? I'm her mother!" she yelled at him.

"Elsa, calm down." Anna said, holding her back.

"Yes, I am aware of that, your majesty. However, since we are a bit pressed for time, I must ask for the girl's father to come and donate his blood." Said the doctor, putting back his glasses on his face.

Elsa looked at the man incredulously. How could he expect her to just call Tristan? He wouldn't even come even if it was Thalia who begged him! What made him think he would be coming back now?

"Why does it have to be her father?" Elsa asked, her breath hitching in her throat.

The doctor sighed. "If you and your daughter don't match, then I'm dead certain that she and her father will. Right now, he's the best and most accurate choice."

"I'm… I'm afraid that task is a little impossible, Dr…" Elsa said, stopping at the last part since she didn't know the guy's name.

"Dr. Mabrey." The doctor supplied. "And why would it be impossible, if I may inquire?"

Elsa looked at him. "My husband is not here. It's complicated. Look, he wouldn't even come to political or business meetings between his kingdom and mine. What makes you think he'll just magically pop up?"

Dr. Mabrey sighed. "Simple, your majesty. His daughter's life is on the line. If he loves her as a father should, then he would come. I suggest that you send him a letter as soon as possible."

He left the royal family alone to think about what he said. Anna looked at her sister and she saw her about to burst. She panicked and immediately rubbed circles on her sister's back.

"Look, don't worry. We'll figure this ou-"

"How?! Tristan won't come! He won't! Not even if our daughter's life depended on it." Elsa yelled at her, clutching at her hair.

Anna moved herself closer to her. "You make Tristan sound like a bad guy. He's not gonna let Thalia… you know…" _die_, she said in her head. Elsa would strangle her if she said it out loud. "He's gonna come. I'm sure of that." She told Elsa gently.

Elsa let a tear escape her eye as she voiced out the thought that's been in her head for the past minute. "And are you still going to be sure as we watch Thalia die while waiting for a glimpse of his ship? I can't take that big a risk, Anna."

Anna sighed. "But right now, he's our only chance at saving Thalia. Please, do it for her."

Elsa threw her arms out in frustration. "Why can't that stupid Dr. Mabrey just test out anyone in town and see if they match with Thalia. It would be a lot surer than this."

Anna thought about it for a while. The answer immediately came to her. "That's going to take forever Elsa. It took the doctor three hours to finally conclude that you aren't compatible with Thalia. And you're talking about hundreds of people here."

Elsa was silent.

"I know… You're scared. I am too. But Tristan is sure to come. Come on, this is Thalia we're talking about. If… If you don't want to write the letter, I will. Just… come on. Besides, Duberick isn't that far from Arendelle. It's just a day's boat ride away. We'll save her."

Elsa looked at her sister's pleading face and her unconscious daughter beside her. Why HIM? Why him of all people? She took a shaky breath and made up her mind.

"I'll… I'll do it. But… I'm going to have to be the one to write him the letter."

Anna looked at Elsa wide-eyed at that. "Y-You're sure you're up for the challenge? I mean, I could do it if you wanted to… I mean – I think he won't mind if-"

Elsa put up a hand to silence Anna's rambling. "Thank you, Anna, but it would be best if I did it. If he saw a letter coming from me, he's bound to open it immediately."

Anna still looked at her doubtfully. "You're sure?"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay…"

"Just get me some paper and a pen, Anna." She told her sister.

Anna didn't complain and she got up from her seat to ask for the supplies from anyone she found outside.

Elsa groaned as she rubbed her temple. Why did it have to come to this? How was she even supposed to talk to Tristan? They haven't had contact for ten years. Oh, this is going to be awkward…

* * *

**A/N:** Finally! This was waaaayyy to long. I wanted to stop, I really did, but the ideas just keep popping up one after the other and... well, you've just read the results. I didn't have time to edit this because I wanted to post this as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the "Manage Stories" button broke so, this chap's late. I'm sorry for the mistakes. Anyway, what do you think of this new development?

Oh, and your wonderful suggestions will be placed in the next chapter so don't worry. I think I'll have fun writing the next one. What you've seen in Elsa's memory is just a sneak peek of Tristan.

As always, please tell me what you think, point out any mistakes, and please stick with me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Elsa gulped audibly as she watched the ship carrying her letter to Tristan sail off. She didn't know why she was so nervous. After forcing herself to write that letter, she had been having numerous flashbacks of her days together with him. She did not particularly enjoy _that_ part but whenever it was interrupted, a slight feeling of annoyance would flare up deep inside of her.

She was supposed to hate him right? She swore it to herself the day he left their lives. The man even had the nerve to ask her to come with him to his kingdom. To rule with him. She rejected his proposal straight away. Her place was in Arendelle. She would never leave her home. Besides, she still had to make up for the people for freezing Arendelle years ago, though Anna kept insisting that everything was fine and no real harm had been done.

Elsa doubted her. It took them a while to get things back as they were. More than just "a few", as Anna had put it, animals had succumbed to the cold and Arendelle's livestock suffered for a number of months. Their crops, however small they may be, given the small farmland Arendelle had, were lost during the winter. All she could do was to rely on the regular trades from neighboring kingdoms and getting the harvesters to export as much ice and timber as possible. It was the only thing abundant at the moment and food for the kingdom was not easy to come by in trades. Those were dark and difficult times.

She barely even survived a day during those times. If she left the kingdom to Anna and Kristoff she was sure that Arendelle would burn down in just a day or two. Anna just wasn't ready for something like being Queen. They were raised differently. She, being isolated, focused more on studying while Anna, who was allowed on anywhere inside the castle grounds, would usually goof off in her lessons and talk to paintings or bother the staff.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Anna. She handled some of her meetings splendidly and she would even entrust a bit of her minor duties to the princess. And even then, those tasks would leave her exhausted. Imagine her becoming a full duty Queen. Anna would outright refuse the task. She just wasn't a girl who would stay behind a desk scribbling on contracts and trade papers, she was a girl who preferred to have wild adventures and liked to have fun. She wasn't going to burden her baby sister with her job. She wasn't _that_ selfish.

And even if the kingdom had enough food and Anna would magically mature, she would like to see anyone try and get her to board a ship.

Even as the ship eventually became a tiny dot on the horizon, Elsa continued to stare at the vast ocean that connected to the fjord. In twenty-four hours or so, her letter would reach Tristan. She just hoped the sea would grant the ship safe passage.

Elsa sighed as she remembered what Dr. Mabrey had said. If Tristan was really a loving father, then he would immediately come to Arendelle to save Thalia. As difficult as it was to accept, he really was their best chance. Even the doctor talked her out of pulling random people off the streets and have them tested. She didn't back down easily though. She had to force the man to try Kristoff's blood, despite the blonde's protests.

Even so, what Anna said the night before was right. Tristan was not a bad person. He was selfless and brave and kind… well, before he decided to leave. People may say that he hadn't changed but to Elsa, it just didn't feel right anymore. Maybe it was a bit unfair on her part or for the fact that she had not seen him for ten years, but she just didn't think she'd be able to look at him without hating him for what he did.

She had to hit Anna after she teased her about it last night. She told Elsa to just admit that she was just annoyed that Tristan did not do his best to persuade her because, insert Anna's annoying wiggling eyebrows here, there was no doubt that she would agree to join him if he did so. Anna also told her that it was obvious that she was still in love with him.

Anna had to see the doctor after what Elsa did to her after that. She was most certainly _not_ in love with Tristan. Not anymore. Well… maybe not totally. _In love_ just wasn't the right term. Like? Attracted? Desired? Wait… what? Either way, Elsa would be civilized. There will be no hugging, kissing or any sort of romantic interaction between the two of them. The time for those passed ten years ago.

* * *

"Oh, I can't wait to feel my beloved Elsa's lips against mine!" Tristan said as he stared out of the window of his office longingly. His adviser had been talking endlessly for the past few minutes about the kingdom's current financial stats. Needless to say, he was fuming when he heard the king's interruption.

"Your majesty, I daresay you should keep these things private." He said as he straightened out the papers in his hands.

Tristan whipped his head around to face his trusted royal adviser and grinned broadly like a hopeless love-struck young man. "Oh, I can't help it, Goose. Just a few more years and the kingdom will finally be stable! Oh you can't tell how much I've waited for that day to come!"

"Be that as it may, your majesty, we still need you to focus. The more you focus on settling these skirmishes and legalizing trades, the sooner the kingdom will grow and the sooner you'll visit Arendelle. Which reminds me, we should be receiving their latest shipment of timber and ice this morning... I'll need to get right on that." Goose said as he laid out document after document on Tristan's desk.

Tristan only shook his head. "You said that to me ten years ago, Goose. And just think, in a year, no, in just a few months, all of Duberick's matters will be settled and then I'm off to Arendelle!"

"Yes, I'm glad you've set the bar high, your majesty. Maybe, if you also turn that enthusiasm over here too, then we could actually work on that goal of yours, hmm?"

Tristan rolled his eyes. He put up his hands in resignation and went over to his desk to examine what his adviser laid out. "Exactly how long have these riots in the southern market area been going on? They seem to be mentioned on every paper I've laid my eyes on."

"Well, your majesty, what your brother did was certainly unforgivable to them. He was a tyrant. Heaven only knows where he got the idea from." Goose stated as he pulled out a pen from the king's table drawers.

"Yes… he was… but this has been going on for too long. Can't we just settle this in a civilized manner?" Tristan sighed, putting the document back down on the desk.

"Well… I doubt they would consider doing that. Your brother was many things, your majesty. But a kind ruler… was not one." Goose said as he picked out another paper for Tristan to read over.

Tristan let his emerald eyes scan the writing on the paper before saying, "He might not have been a kind ruler… but he was a kind brother. I don't know Goose… it's just…" he set the document down on the table along with many others and started walking towards the window again. "It's just… It feels like something changed in him after I left for Arendelle, you know? He wasn't always like that."

Goose breathed in a sigh as he followed the king to the window. "Yes, your majesty. He was a very kind boy growing up. But after he resumed the crown… well, he changed entirely. He started raising the taxes and demanding higher outputs from the peasants and farmers and traders… I don't know what made him go…" he didn't finish his sentence, choosing to leave it at that. He did not want to offend the king.

Tristan glanced at his adviser and he saw the sadness and regret in his eyes. He was saddened by his brother's actions too. Growing up, he had always seemed like the better choice to be king. He knew everything there was to know about their kingdom while he only knew how to beat the captain of the guards at sword fighting and archery. He liked reading but the thought of becoming king did not appeal to him.

Even before he sailed to Arendelle and met Elsa, he had noticed the changes in his brother. His face was paler and he always had a scowl on his face. Heck, he didn't even see his brother at mealtimes anymore. He was so thin when he came back from Arendelle to tell his brother personally about his plans on marrying Elsa. He seemed reluctant at first but he got him to agree although he stormed off somewhere just after receiving his blessing.

The news of his tyranny came somewhat as a surprise to him. He was sheltered from the world outside as he grew up and although he wanted to go on hunts with the guards, he was not allowed to. He had heard whispers from the servants about the unhappy state of the citizens of Duberick but he thought nothing of it. He thought it was just baseless gossip.

When he was sent to sail to Arendelle to attend a meeting and a ball, Tristan was very surprised. He had no experience whatsoever in this particular part of being a royal. His brother told him he was very busy and he wanted him to go in his stead. Although he was reluctant to leave, he found happiness in Arendelle. He had met the love of his life, Elsa.

"Goose… remember what you said to me when I came back from Arendelle? You know, three years after being married." Tristan said as he watched the people on the docks unload the freshest batch of ice from a ship. That must be Arendelle's shipment. Right on time. Of course, this was Elsa he was talking about. Of course it was on time.

"Which ones sire? After you arrived at port or when you saw the riot in the town proper?" Goose asked him. His eyes were also trained on the ship from Arendelle.

"When I saw the riot." Tristan told him.

Goose nodded his head slowly and sadly as though he did not want the memory of that day replayed. "Yes sire. I told you that you came back to a place that's been ravished and abused by the cruelness King Lionel possessed. You were so young and naïve back then, your majesty. I also told you that you were the kingdom's only hope and they needed a leader to look up to. The sooner you get them to calm down and start operating normally as a kingdom, the sooner you are free to visit Arendelle. Of course, I didn't mean to lock you up in here and ban you from seeing your family."

"No. It's alright. If I kept visiting Arendelle whenever, who knows what might've happened. Arendelle can wait. A king has to make choices. Whether good or bad, he decides." Tristan said sadly.

He _was_ foolish and naïve back then. He had tried to pacify the villagers as soon as he arrived at the scene but they began to chase him away with their pitchforks, screaming about injustice and how he was just going to follow in his brother's footsteps. Goose told him to convince the people that he was on their side and that he would never be like Lionel.

And so, for five years, he studied harder than he had ever studied before to prepare himself for becoming Duberick's king. It took him two years to get the people to warm up to him and to trust him and even now, it was still a work in progress. But it was progress nonetheless. He was just glad that the assassination attempts had stopped. Heaven only knows what he would do if he had brought Elsa and Thalia with him. He would be beside himself with worry.

At least he knew they were safe. And then, if everything would be solved and the fear of Lionel would be erased from everyone's hearts, he could go to Arendelle without worrying about leaving the castle and finding it in ruins when he came back. It actually happened to the southwest portion of the castle when he had gone out to do his normal rounds around the village to do his campaign. The gardens were absolutely destroyed and a few men had been hurt. The ones responsible weren't caught and that just made him worry.

"Your majesty, a letter has arrived." A curt voice from outside interrupted Tristan's thoughts. He looked at his adviser and he shrugged. Goose made his way towards the door and opened it to reveal a young man they hired as a messenger.

"It's from Arendelle, sir. The captain said it was urgent and he needed a reply as soon as possible." The young man said.

Goose's brows creased as he let the information soak in. Something grave had happened to the kingdom. That was the only explanation. He turned to look at the king and he was surprised to see him walking towards him in a fast pace.

Tristan immediately snatched the envelope and turned it over to read what was written on the back. _To: Tristan Claude von Duberick II, King of Duberick… From: Elsa, Queen of Arendelle_

Normally, Tristan would be jumping around in joy at the sight of a letter from Elsa after ten long years. Actually, he might've even pouted and sulked a little about Elsa not using his surname. But this letter was urgent. And Elsa never wrote to him. If she sent this now, then something serious must have happened.

Without wasting another second, Tristan ripped the envelope open and pulled the letter out quickly. His brows furrowed at the state of the handwriting on the letter. Elsa's normally neat and narrow handwriting was sort of pointy and out of place at some parts of the letter. It was as if she was in a hurry.

And this did not comfort him in the slightest.

_Tristan, _

_ First of all, this letter is not about us._

Tristan's face fell at those words.

_ Whatever delusions you may have inside your head right now, please cast them aside for just a few seconds. Honestly, I don't even know where we stand. I can say a million things to you. About how angry I am at you. About everything. But I can't say all of it in just one letter. I can honestly say though, that I can't forgive you for what you did._

Tristan smiled slightly at that. He still had a chance. He knew because he recognized the way Elsa said it. She was hesitant. Like she was in denial. The only problem is that she doesn't see it that way.

_Moving away from that topic, the reason that I've written to you... is that our daughter and nephew ran into an accident._

Tristan's eyebrows shot up. Thalia had an accident? With Ivan? From what he had heard from his daughter's letters, Ivan was the most responsible person she was ever around with. Aside from Elsa, of course. But an accident? How?

_ But then again, this all goes back to you._

What? How? Why?

_ If it wasn't for your inconsiderate letter, she wouldn't have snuck out. I swear to God, Tristan, if I find that you wrote something that causes Thalia to be hurt mentally or something that could scar her for life, you are going to find yourself frozen faster than fast._

Yeesh. He was glad that Elsa still had that on her but really? Frozen? And why would Thalia sneak out just because he said that he wouldn't be able to attend Arendelle's late summer ball? He was a workaholic. He would not deny that fact. It hurt him to cancel on balls or even some birthdays or some special family events but the damage his brother had done was just starting to heal after years of effort. Granted, he _could_ afford to take a few days off. Unfortunately, that feature was new. And it was still under approval by the council. He expected to hear from them by the next day. If they agreed, then it was off to Arendelle for his first day off in his history of being king.

_Thalia and Ivan had gone sledding when they snuck out. Our visitors, one of them is the prince of Corona, found them bruised and bloody, half-buried in the snow. Ivan was bruised but otherwise unharmed. It's Thalia that we're worried about. Her life's in danger._

Tristan's eyes widened as he read the last sentence. Thalia? How?

_I know this is quite shocking to you_

Oh, you think?

_but Thalia really needs you back here. The doctor told us that she lost a great amount of blood and she really needs to get more in her system before it's too late. I'm not a match for her so that led to the doctor saying that you're what she needs. Look, I'll explain more when you get here. Please, Tristan. I've never asked you for something before so please, grant me this first time. Please, come to Arendelle and save our daughter's life._

_If we don't do something soon, Thalia could die. Just this once show her that you're there for her instead of just writing about it in letters. I can't lose her, Tristan. Not like this. Not when she has a chance._

_ - Elsa_

Tristan furrowed his eyebrows at the letter. That didn't sound like Elsa at all. But maybe it was just the hysterics. Their daughter's life was in danger. Of course she would be hysterical.

He didn't even need time to think. His brain immediately switched to concerned parent as he made eye contact with Goose.

"Something happened to our daughter. She needs me." He stated.

Goose's eyes widened. "W-What? To the princess… ? Oh dear…"

Tristan nodded and turned his attention to the messenger on the doorway who still hadn't moved from his spot. "You, tell the captain of the ship that we will go. We'll be at the docks by this evening."

The young man nodded and he immediately raced down the halls to do his task. Tristan turned back to Goose.

"Goose, I'll need you to stay here while I go to Arendelle. You need to see to the kingdom's needs. You're the only one I trust." He said as he patted the man's shoulder.

"B-But your majesty! Duberick is still not stable! I don't think this is a good idea." Goose tried to argue.

"Duberick will be fine without me. This is not ten years ago and-"

"Your majesty, please! Please think about this for a while! I don't want to risk this!" Goose said as he tried to get Tristan to see how his departure to Arendelle would affect the kingdom.

"I don't need to think about it, Goose!" Tristan shot at him, annoyed at being interrupted. "My daughter's life is in danger! Do you think I have time to think about it?!"

Goose opened his mouth and then closed it as he thought of another thing to say to his king. "B-But… but the people… Those riots at the southern market… What if they escalate while you're away? What if they'll attack the castle?"

Tristan sighed. "That's why you are staying here, Goose. You are to make sure everything is well and taken care of while I'm gone. I'm also assigning the captain of the guard to keep vigilant watch over the castle. Send some of the guards to the scene if the riots get too big."

"But your majesty! We need you here!"

"Goose! Just… Just let me do this! Just this once! Please! I've sacrificed so much just for our kingdom. Do you know how many special occasions I've missed because of my duty to be Duberick's king? I've missed out on so much of Thalia's life. Please… just this once, let me be her father. Let me do something for her."

Goose didn't have anything to say. He was surprised at the king's outburst. He was even more surprised at his sudden emotional segue. He did not leave any room for argument. Tristan knew that he wouldn't be able to fight back if he used guilt tripping.

"Please, understand Goose. People are warming up to me and I sacrificed so much for them. Just get them to understand that. I need to do this. This is my daughter's life we're talking about here." Tristan told him as he gave his adviser a few more pats.

There was a moment of silence between the two as Goose balanced everything out in his head. Finally, with a small hesitant nod of his head, he allowed the king to go. Tristan couldn't contain his happiness when he got the man's approval.

"I'll have to go and tell the council about my plans. They _will_ listen and agree to my request. I want you to tell the servants to pack up some of my things for travel. I'll see you at the docks once I get the approval from the council. Should be easy, right?"

* * *

Elsa slowly opened the door to Thalia's temporary room in the ship. Dusk was approaching and she did not want to fall prey to the mosquitoes outside. She had spent all afternoon looking out at the ocean. It had been two days since she sent the letter to Duberick and the lack of ships on the horizon did nothing to ease her worries.

As Elsa took off her cape to hang, she glanced at her pale daughter on the bed. If it was even possible, she looked a tiny bit paler than she was yesterday. This made her heart clench painfully. Even as the evidence was laid out in front of her, she still refused to believe that her daughter was knocking on death's door.

Elsa let out a shaky breath and made her way towards the bed. She did not sit down, however. She simply stood there and stared at Thalia's form on the bed. She looked so small, buried under the bed's covers. She did not look like a twelve-year old child at all. She looked like she was nine.

This made her more protective of her child. She was irreplaceable. She simply did not know what she would do if she lost her. She just couldn't imagine the thought of life without her daughter.

But if Tristan would not come… Elsa shook her head and shivered at the thought. She would not let that happen. She was going to save her daughter no matter what. She had already talked to Dr. Mabrey earlier and told him to reconsider testing other people for a possible match with Thalia.

Elsa wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. She had to save her daughter. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the door had opened. The person who entered cleared his throat and that jerked Elsa from her thoughts.

She whipped her head around quickly and her blue eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

There, at the door, was her husband, Tristan. He looked like he hadn't had any sleep and there were dark circles under his eyes. His clothes were clean but a bit crinkled at places. But there he was. In the flesh. Staring at her with his emerald green eyes swimming with tears.

He, too, was speechless as he stared at Elsa.

They stayed like that for a few seconds before Tristan decided to speak.

"Hi...?"

* * *

**A/N: **And daddy's in Arendelle. First of all, I'm REALLY REALLY **REALLY** sorry for the REALLY REALLY REALLY **REALLY** late update. The only reason that I managed to update daily is because I've pre-written chapters 1-7 before I decided to upload this fic here. My original plan was to write nightly but school is back in session and I'm really busy now. I hope you can understand. I'll still write bits and pieces everyday for chapter nine. EVERYDAY.

Anyway, this is just to say that I will not be uploading daily from now on. Maybe there will be a few days, sometimes weeks interval, but that's just if I'm busy. Hope you guys understand.

Oh, yeah. Review!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Hi…?"

Elsa was too shocked to reply. She really was. After ten long years of… of not seeing him… of not speaking to him… he's just… there. Her mouth opened and closed countless of times, trying to form words but that task proved to be impossible at the moment.

Tristan wasn't faring well, either. God, Elsa still looked as beautiful as ever. He wanted to go over there and hold her in his arms so badly. Hugging wasn't a problem back then. Now, it just felt awkward even standing in the same room as her.

Elsa put a hand to her chest to steady her breathing. She didn't have time to prepare for this. Well, she did. She knew he was coming back one way or another but this… he just barged in like he didn't have a clue on how it would affect everything.

For years she steeled herself to be angry at Tristan. To scream at him once he came and throw him out of Arendelle. But where did that anger go? Maybe it was just the initial shock. Yeah… it was just the shock…

Elsa was jerked back into reality when Tristan suddenly stepped forward. His heavy leather boots booming against the wooden floorboard of the ship. Elsa immediately found herself stepping back away from him.

Tristan, however, was headed towards Thalia. His eyes bore sadness and pain… and many other things she couldn't place. If she wasn't too afraid right now, she would've mirrored his emotions and empathized with him.

Once Elsa was sure that Tristan wouldn't try anything else but stay by their daughter's side, she allowed herself to relax. She pulled a chair from behind her and sat down, looking at the reunion between father and child. It wasn't beautiful by any means. It was just emotional, on Tristan's part, and truth be told, awkward.

She heard Tristan sniffle and she looked up just in time to see him wipe at the tears on his eyes. He placed a quick kiss on Thalia's hand just as Elsa had done countless of times for the past few days. She made a face. She knew she shouldn't care but he had kissed the exact same place she had. The idea of an indirect kiss did not sit well with her, not that Tritan knew. What was important was that he was here to save Thalia.

Elsa let a few more minutes roll by before she decided to break up the reunion. Don't get her wrong. As much as she liked being awkwardly set aside on the corner as she watched Tristan whisper small nothings to their daughter, he still needed to give his blood to save her. Yes, it sounded horrible that way. It sounded like a blood ritual of some sort.

She gathered all the courage she could and cleared her throat. This got Tristan's attention immediately and he looked up to meet her eyes. For a moment, Elsa faltered. Her words got stuck up in her throat, not quite reaching her tongue. She knew what she wanted to say but Tristan's intense gaze kept her from doing so.

His green eyes were looking at her expectantly, willing her to continue and that was enough for Elsa to snap out of it. She waved her hand towards the door, indicating that their conversation would best be had outside. He nodded his head once and she led the way outside.

Once Tristan shut the door, Elsa sucked in a deep breath and organized herself.

"I-I didn't expect you'd arrive so quickly." Elsa stammered out, mentally slapping herself for stumbling over her words. As much as she wanted to welcome him to Arendelle, she couldn't. She told herself that he wasn't welcome anywhere near Arendelle. Not for the past decade. Although, this case was an exception since Thalia was in danger. If she wasn't, then he wouldn't even set foot on a ship headed towards her kingdom.

"Elsa, I… I'm so sorry for not coming sooner – I… If I'd have known… I – " Tristan said as he tried to form a coherent sentence. He had so much to say. So much to apologize for. But he didn't know where to start. This was awkward.

Elsa put up her hand to stop his ramblings and said, "You know what? Just drop it. Whatever it is… just… just not now." Her eyes wandered over to her side, refusing to look her husband in the eye.

Silence fell upon the both of them as they waited for the other to speak or start moving. Tristan was still trying to hide the hurt he felt as he heard his once loving wife say those words. Elsa was just trying not to show her emotions and fighting to keep her feet where it was instead of running off somewhere Tristan wasn't occupying.

Thankfully, someone decided to put them out of their misery. Dr. Mabrey had been planning on giving his patient another check-up when he found the queen and king standing in silence in front of Thalia's door.

Dr. Mabrey cleared his throat. Two heads snapped up in attention. "Excuse me, your majesy, but I do believe it's time for another check up. If you'd just let me slide in…" he said as he tried to slip past the pair and into the room. Before he did, however, Elsa stopped him.

"Dr. Mabrey, please, wait for a moment." She told him as he spun around to face them. Elsa looked between the men in front of her, not sure how to introduce them to each other. After a few moments of hesitation, she decided on being blunt.

"Doctor, this is King Tristan of Duberick." She started off, gesturing to Tristan as she did so. "He's Thalia's father." She finished. Mabrey was about to shake Tristan's hand when he stopped and looked at her.

"Her father?"

Elsa nodded. "Yes, her father." She could feel her fingers tingling underneath her teal gloves and it took all of her just to keep her powers at bay for the moment. She didn't like being uncomfortable. It gave her little to no control over her powers and frankly it wouldn't help the situation if she froze everything. She knew from firsthand experience.

Dr. Mabrey seemed to judge Tristan a bit. It left the king chuckling nervously as he tried to keep his act together.

For what seemed like an eternity, the doctor took Tristan's hand and shook it before shooting off in the direction of his office, dragging both the king and queen along with him.

"So, I'm guessing you kind of believe her then?" Tristan asked as he led them through the door to his office.

Elsa looked around the small room and she couldn't help but show a bit of disgust at how unkempt it was. Scrolls, parchment, books, and bottles of ink were scattered haphazardly all around. There were also a few trays of food and some articles of clothing lying on the floor so she made sure to stick by the door where it was less… messy. You'd think, being a doctor, he'd want to clean up and disinfect the place. She really was starting to question this man.

"Oh no, heavens no, dear boy. I believed Queen Elsa the moment she said it. I was just surprised is all. You don't look healthy. It makes me want to re-consider transfusing your blood to your daughter." Mabrey said as he walked through the mess like it was nothing and grabbed his bag of tools on the desk. He muttered something about sterilizing them but he quickly turned around to face them.

"My goodness, you look like you haven't slept in days. And you're thin!" he exclaimed as he sat Tristan down and continued his examination. "Hmm… eyebags. Pale skin. Dirty hair. Forgive me, but when was the last time you took a bath?"

Tristan spluttered and Elsa couldn't help the smile creeping up on her face. "Excuse me, sir, but I have just arrived! I didn't have time to clean up. I had to see my daughter right away. I – "

"Alright, calm your horses, I was just asking." The doctor said as he checked his pulse. "Strong heartbeat though… Tell me, do you have allergies of any sort?"

Tristan looked at him as if he was crazy. "What? Why would you…? Um, no… Not that I know of… I guess…"

Mabrey sighed and leaned back on his seat. "Well… if you say so. You're tired, fatigued, and malnourished… Since when did you last feed yourself? No, your lifestyle won't do from here on out. I expect you to clean yourself up, fill up your stomach and get a good night's rest, your majesty. It won't do you any good if you keep living the way you are after giving Thalia some much needed blood."

Tristan looked sheepish for a moment before nodding and standing up. "So… do I need to do this now or will you be needing to do the transfusion immediately?" he asked.

Elsa looked back and forth between the men. She didn't know how to do Dr. Mabrey's job but if it was up to her, they should do it right away. Thalia was dying for heaven's sake! Before she was able to voice out her opinions, however, the door had swung open so suddenly and so forcefully that she was almost hit with it. She jumped a few feet in her fright but was quick to regain her composure, although the icicles that lined her feet said quite the opposite. She was already struggling to keep her powers in check and one scare like that set it off. _Great…_

The intruder turned out to be one of Dr. Mabrey's assistants and from the looks of it, something was terribly wrong. The kid looked like he had just run a marathon to deliver the bad news they were sure to receive.

Elsa shared a look with Tristan and both knew that it had to do with the sudden sinking feeling in their stomachs.

"Anton! What happened?!" Mabrey asked as he went over to calm the young man.

Anton took a few more deep breaths before answering his superior's question. "T-The… the princess… she's… she's awake!"

Elsa's face went slack and her jaw dropped. Although the news they received wasn't bad by any means, tears still found its way to her eyes and she quickly wiped them before they could spill over. This was great! Thalia was finally awake!

The queen turned her head to watch Tristan's reaction and she was mildly surprised to see him frozen in place. His mouth was open and his eyes were wide while his arms dropped to his side. In a distant and fond memory, she recalled that he had the exact same reaction when she told him she was pregnant.

Elsa caught herself and she shook her head. Alright. Stop. Enough, Elsa. It's bad enough that he's here. Don't tolerate it.

* * *

Pain.

That was the first thing that registered in Thalia's head when she woke up. Everything hurt. A lot. She was sore and her side felt like it had been crushed by a boulder. Her head was throbbing and her vision was swimming in black dots.

She could hear voices all around her. She couldn't really recognize who they belonged to nor did she care. It only made her head hurt even more and she just wanted to be left alone.

_"…ink she's… ake… call… een…"_

_"…no… octor… needs medi… ention…" _

_"… you sure? I… maybe we… move…"_

_"Now!"_

"Ev'ry… body… shuddap…" Thalia slurred as she tried to open her eyes fully. Everything was still blurry and the pain she felt was still there. She felt a hand on her arm and another one held her down on the bed. Not that she needed to be held down. She wanted to sleep in this bed forever. Well maybe not _this_ bed. It wasn't as comfortable and soft as her own bed.

Wait… where was she anyway?

She could still hear panicked voices all around her but she didn't pay attention to what they were saying. As far as she was concerned, it all sounded like gibberish.

She wanted to ask them where she was but her throat was raspy and dry. Her vision had cleared somewhat and she realized that she was in a ship's cabin. The same one she woke up in before… Oh no… It wasn't a dream. She was still in this godforsaken ship with that mysterious and quirky prince Fin-something-or-the-other.

"Princess Thalia… please, stay down. You need rest." A familiar voice rang out.

_Well… speak of the devil_

If she wasn't so weak right now she would've rolled her eyes at the boy's comment. Still, her attitude got the better of her and she struggled to retaliate.

"I'm… n-not… even… ge… getting u-up… idi…ot"

There. That wasn't so bad was it? Apparently it was. It was enough to damage her dry and aching throat further and it left her coughing and hacking. The person who was supporting her yelled for the doctor and she heard the door open forcefully seconds later.

"Don't worry, Princess Thalia. The doctor will be here soon." Prince Flynn murmured as he rubbed small circles on her back.

Thalia winced at the action due to the small bruise on her back but she didn't have the energy to tell the prince about that. It took about five painfully long minutes for the room to liven up with action again, indicating that the doctor had arrived. She felt the prince's hands slowly letting her go and was soon replaced with a gentle, soothing touch she could recognize anywhere.

"M-Mom...?" Thalia croaked as she struggled to focus on the blurry outline of her mother beside her. "M-Mom? Is… Is that… Is that… you…?"

She felt a hand on her forehead stroking her slowly and carefully as she heard her mother's soft and beautiful voice answer her. "Y-Yes, baby. It's me. Mama's here."

Thalia felt a squeeze on her left hand followed by a few sniffles from Elsa. She allowed a small smile on her cracked lips and tried to get herself to relax. She wasn't in danger. This prince, whose name she can't seem to remember, brought her mother to her, despite them being strangers. She supposed that she was grateful for that.

Elsa smiled broadly at the sight of her daughter finally becoming responsive. Her prayers had been answered. She let out a shaky laugh and wiped at the tears that had escaped her eyes. It was only then that she noticed the flurry of movement from all around her.

The doctor was scrambling madly for his supplies and shouting orders for his assistants to follow. Prince Flynn had shuffled wordlessly on the sidelines and soon after left, no doubt to tell his parents about the news. Tristan was slowly taking off his shirt – wait, what?

Elsa's eyes widened in shock as she took in the scene unfolding before her. Her mouth fell open and she blushed as she watched him continue undressing until he was clad in only his white undershirt. '_Oh my goodness…' _Tristan placed his vest and jacket neatly on a nearby coat rack and sat down, waiting for the doctor to give him any further instructions. He seemed to notice Elsa's staring and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Elsa reddened even more when she realized she'd been caught and tried to bury her face behind Thalia's hand, which she held in hers. Tristan, however, seemed glad with her reaction. He grinned and tried to get her attention again, even flexing his muscles a bit.

Elsa growled and tightened her grip on her daughter's hand. A very sharp icicle appeared on the ground very near to Tristan and was pointed at him in a menacing manner, daring him to continue teasing her.

Before Tristan could say anything and before Elsa could impale him, Dr. Mabrey stepped in and asked for Tristan's arm. Tristan looked at the man funnily before shrugging and complying to the man's wishes.

Mabrey nodded once and his other assistant, Daniel, went out of the room. Anton stayed behind to help the doctor set everything up.

"Ma… ma? What's… what's going on?" Thalia croaked from the bed. Her voice was so soft and so low that only Elsa could hear it.

Elsa turned her attention to her daughter and said, "The doctor's going to make you better. He's preparing for the procedure. Just close your eyes sweetheart, come on. That's it…"

Thalia didn't understand what the fuss was all about and what the procedure her mother was talking about but if it made her feel better than she was now, she would gladly do as she was told.

Dr. Mabrey had Tristan lie down on a cot beside Thalia's bed. Trisan wordlessly settled down on it and let the doctor do his job. He felt him cleaning a spot on his arm with a cotton swab and he shivered slightly at the coolness.

The door burst open again and the other assistant came back with a rather large and noisy machine. He set it beside the one they reeled in two days prior and Elsa gaped at the sight. If she thought that the first machine she saw was big, then she was really setting herself up for this one. The machine that was just reeled in was _enormous_!

"What is _that_?!" she asked the doctor as she looked the machine over again.

"Like I said, your majesty, this is what we use to transfuse blood." He said matter-of-factly and snapped his fingers at his assistants. In an instant, the two immediately got to work attaching tubes, both big and small, and several other things to the machines.

"I thought that the smaller one was for transfusing blood?" Elsa asked, confused.

"No. Well… yes. But it's just a part of the machine. It's what we attach to your daughter and then the bigger one to your husband."

Elsa, though understanding only little from the doctor's explanation, just opted to nod and kept silent as they continued whatever it was they were doing. She kept her focus on her daughter and her daughter only. If she let her eyes wander, they might find themselves straying over Tristan's exposed torso. But Elsa would never admit that. Never.

* * *

The procedure was quick. Once the doctor deemed that the blood being transferred to Thalia was enough, he stopped everything and removed the small hose he attached to his arm, as well as the few others on his chest.

The king and the queen did not know the purpose of placing the tubes on his chest but they did not question it. Tristan, for the most part, seemed okay, although a bit pale and sleepy. He was currently buttoning up his vest as he sat up on the cot he was placed in. The doctor had warned them about the effects of having blood taken from one's body.

Elsa didn't care about him though. She was just glad to see that the suspicious machine had indeed been a huge help. Some color was finally getting back in Thalia's cheeks and that in itself, was enough reason to celebrate.

Through the noisy clinks and clanks of the machine and the steam it released every now and then, Tristan couldn't help but smile at his beautiful girls. He may not have done much over the past decade but at least he was starting to do something right. After all, he saved his daughter's life.

Elsa finally tore her teary eyes away from her daughter and glanced at the child's father who sat a few feet away. She wanted to thank him. She really did. But what do you say to a man you hated all these years? The man who left his wife and young daughter? The man who never even cared to visit them?

She was so confused. Her great gratitude for him was waging war with her hatred and it was hurting her head.

Tristan was looking at her, expecting her to say or do something.

Elsa looked away and went back to stroking Thalia's hair. She needed to organize her thoughts. She needed to get away and think some things through. And of course, Thalia still needed to know about her father's presence in Arendelle.

As if reading her thoughts, Tristan spoke up. "Are you going to tell her about me being here?"

He was a bit disappointed that Elsa didn't even say anything when she looked at him earlier but he wanted to talk to her. So badly. He would do _anything_ to start a conversation with her.

Elsa jumped slightly at Tristan's sudden question but answered anyway. "Of course, I will. Why wouldn't I?"

Tristan smiled inwardly at her response. '_She's talking.'_ He gave her a shrug and said, "I don't know. I kind of expected you to keep this all a secret."

Elsa turned to look at him and Trisan actually backed up against the wall he was leaning on.

"Excuse me? I'm _not_ that selfish, Tristan." Elsa said, outraged at what she was hearing.

Tristan frantically shook his head. "No. No, no, no, no. It's just… I don't – I wasn't saying that you were – No! I… what? No! Psssh… No. Why would you - ?"

Elsa sent him a look and he immediately stopped talking.

"Sorry. I just… I wasn't saying that you were selfish. I was… I was just apprehensive, that's all."

Elsa raised her eyebrows at that. "Apprehensive? And why's that?"

Tristan's eyes suddenly found themselves scanning the walls and ceiling. He didn't dare look at the woman settled beside his daughter. "Just… just… I don't know. I'm scared? I mean… Honestly, what DO you say to a daughter you haven't seen for ten years?"

Elsa's gaze softened upon hearing that. She got where Tristan was coming from. She knew how terrified he was because she was just as terrified as _he_ was right now. She knew what it felt like to not know how to talk to someone you haven't seen for so long. She felt that right now, standing in front of that very person.

"I mean, Elsa, what's she like? She's never really told me much in her letters. All I know is that she likes to draw… and she likes blue… and she doesn't like it when she wears winter clothes. She hates it when she has to wear gloves because it freezes inside and it becomes stuck to her hands… She loves adventures… but she also likes to read… and – "

"Tristan," Elsa interrupted. "It's fine. You don't have to know everything about her."

Tristan frowned. "But… but she's my daughter."

"Two people don't need information about each other for them to talk and be friends. You'll discover all her quirks when you spend time with her…" Elsa said but she faltered at the last bit. "If you spend time with her… Will you leave immediately? Is this your final visit here?"

Tristan looked at Elsa after she said that. "No. I'll definitely spend time with her. I'm definitely going get to know her better. I'll spend as much time with her as I can."

Elsa nodded her head quickly. "Right… right. And I suppose you're only here for… for what, two days?"

Tristan couldn't look her straight in the eye after that. "Actually, about my stay here… I've been meaning to tell you this. You see, before I left, uh, I had to convince the council and they… um… they were against me going back because of some problems with the kingdom and whatnot and then there were a few issues about my brother and then – "

"Tristan, just get to the point."

Tristan stopped rambling and gulped.

"Duberick is currently unstable because of my brother's doings during his reign and due to that, we are currently at risk of an uprising or… in the worst case scenario, war."

Elsa's eyes widened. "You're what?!"

Tristan cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Just… just let me finish. The point is, we believe that something large is going on here. My brother, you see, was associated with er… sorcery. Black Magic. And well, my brother… he must've done something, I don't know what… and well, we need your help."

Elsa's eyebrows rose again. "Our help? Arendelle's?"

Tristan nodded. "You know more about magic than we do. And there are trolls in your mountain that could help us. Our kingdom."

"And what makes you think that we'll help you, Tristan? Did you ever care before? You can't even come to a single meeting and yet you have the nerve to ask us this huge favor?"

"Actually, Elsa. It's not a favor. Duberick's concern, is Arendelle's concern too. I, the king of Duberick, married you, the Queen of Arendelle. And if I'm not mistaken, that means our kingdom is joint. You have a responsibility to Duberick just as I have to Arendelle."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, that's outta the way. It was a bit rushed at the end but here you guys go. Chapter 9. Again, I'm really sorry for the _really_ late update. But seriously, I love you guys! 50 reviews already! WHOOT! Oh, and what do you guys think of the new development? Um... Thoughts? Opinions? Questions? Violent reactions?

And to that one guest reviewer, **Seth**, I can't see your email address in the review box but if you or any of you guys want to contact me or email me, here: **animeaddict1059 .at. gmail . com ** OR **animeaddict1059 .at. yahoo . com** (Substitute the .at. for the "at" symbol and of course, you know what to do with the dot com)

Please tell me or ask me about anything you guys don't understand and I'm sorry for the mistakes. English is not my native language. REVIEW!


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